The first moss picking festival in 2025

Chieng Lao commune organizes the first moss picking festival in 2025 Time: December 19 and 20, 2025 at Pa Hop village, Chieng Lao commune, Son La province When it comes to Son La cuisine, people often think of delicious dishes such as grilled stream snails, papinhtop, stream fish buried in gio, sticky rice with grapes, stir-fried chicken with wine... However, perhaps not many people know a very special Thai dish. It is stream moss (stone moss). I don't know when, Thai people have known how to collect moss from rivers and streams to process it into favorite dishes, enriching local cuisine. From a simple dish, Suoi Suoi became one of the 100 most delicious specialties in Vietnam. In streams, Moss grows naturally, dark green, clinging around rocks. Moss is abundant in the fall and winter and its life cycle is only about 1 week. When the moss gets old, it will turn white and cannot be used for cooking. According to Ms. Ha Thi Thien in Phu Mau village, Chiang Mai district, you must know how to pick moss. The more clear, fast-flowing stream water, about knee deep, the longer and more delicious the moss will be. Under the skillful hands of Thai women, stone moss can make many delicious dishes such as moss soup, moss stir-fried with garlic, moss salad, grilled moss. Each dish has a different preparation method, depending on your preferences, but they all bring a very unique flavor that is cool, sweet and very nutritious. Fresh moss soup is the simplest dish to prepare. Clean the moss, cut it into pieces, put it in chicken broth or bone stew, and season with light spices. In the cold weather, after a walk through the forest, enjoying a hot bowl of stone moss soup with a sweet and cool flavor can you feel the wonderful culinary delights of this Northwest highland. Besides stir-fried moss or moss soup, perhaps the most popular delicacy that Thai people make is moss fried in banana leaves grilled over charcoal or buried in hot water. This dish is attractive and delicious because of the variety of spices combined with the very characteristic aroma of onions, garlic, and mac Khen. Stream moss dishes are often eaten while still hot. When enjoying, you have to take it slowly to fully feel its characteristic soft, slippery, smooth and fragrant sweetness. In the usual trays or meals of Thai people in Son La, to balance the taste and not be too overpowering, stream moss dishes are often eaten with grilled stream fish, minced pork wrapped in grilled banana leaves or chicken stir-fried with natural vinegar.... The hot moss packages, as soon as they are opened, are filled with the aroma of the ingredients mixed together. On this occasion, when traveling to Son La, visitors can see on the streets Thai people making moss into round cakes, selling them for about 10-25 thousand per piece. In addition to papinh-top, grilled stream snails, bamboo-tube rice, sticky rice with beans, five-color sticky rice...Son La Thai people in particular are very proud of stream moss in general. Because this dish has been recognized in the top 100 most delicious specialties in Vietnam. Therefore, if you have the opportunity to travel to a Thai village in the Northwest, do not forget to experience at least once the special dishes that nature bestows on this gentle land and hospitable people.