Goat stewed with Chinese herbs is not just a simple nutritious dish but also a health remedy that helps nourish the body, boost immunity, and has miraculous effects on skin care. Ladies, don’t miss out on this exquisite delicacy!
The essence of Thung Nham’s cuisine
Before becoming an ecotourism destination, Thung Nham was originally an integrated farming model. Since 1999, it has been a lush green valley with clean vegetable gardens, colorful flower fields, orchards, and a large livestock farm.
With such beginnings, Thung Nham has adopted sustainable and eco-friendly production methods to create safe, high-quality organic food from the very first days of its establishment.
Table of contents
1. VIP Combo for Day Tour & Culinary Experience – 490,000 VND/pax:
- One lunch or dinner featuring Thung Nham’s specialties at the restaurant, with a premium set menu valued at 300,000 VND per serving.
- Entrance ticket to Thung Nham Ecotourism Area (includes bird garden boat ride and Bụt Cave boat ride).
- Full-route electric vehicle ticket (6 round trips).
- One drink.
- Minimum purchase of 02 combos.
- Not applicable for public holidays and Tết.
- 01 lunch or dinner according to the standard set menu at Thung Nham restaurant.
- Discover the beautiful tickets of Thung Nham:
+ Boat ticket to visit But cave.
+ Boat ticket to visit the bird garden.
+ Free photography at Thung Nham flower paradise. - Applicable to customers who buy at least 02 combos.
- Not applicable for holidays and Tet.
1. Organic eating trends and the Locavore movement
In recent years, with the increase in health knowledge, consumers around the world have begun to move towards a healthy diet and choose foods that are beneficial for long-term health. Therefore, organic foods with the advantages of cleanliness, safety, and high nutrition are increasingly popular and have become a global trend.
In addition, the “Locavore” movement has been widely developed. “Locavore” is a compound word of “local” and “vorous” (to eat), forming a new word meaning “people who only buy food near their home”. This movement encourages people to eat more foods from local products or the area where they live, even raising, growing, and producing food for their families. Because, these local products will certainly retain their fresh taste, and especially have much higher nutritional value than foods in supermarkets. Moreover, this source of raw materials is also a way to protect our living environment, because it will help save fuel and reduce emissions from transportation compared to imported food sources.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the soul of every delicious dish is in the ingredients used to prepare that dish. The ingredients must not only be fresh, delicious, and in season, but also completely natural, not affected by other factors. And it is even more wonderful when the source of raw materials also follows the “Locavore” trend.
Developing in the direction of self-sufficient “Locavore”, Thung Nham Restaurant has its own vegetable garden and a small island in the middle of Tien Lake to graze poultry and livestock, ensuring that the restaurant always provides fresh, safe food with the least possible impact on the environment.
Almost all the food on your table is harvested from our own gardens and farms. This self-sufficient food source ensures that the ingredients used to prepare the dishes are always fresh, safe and provide the most optimal nutritional value.
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At Thung Nham restaurant, the menu is often built according to the season, each season has its own dishes, to ensure that the ingredients are always fresh, in season and retain the most nutrients.
Apart from edible delights made with genuine ingredients, Rose Myrtle Wine (Sim Wine) – made from artisanal rice wine infused with the ripe fruits and aged in caves – is another must-try delicacy in Thung Nham.
2. Carp
For many foodie travelers, venturing into regional delicacies allows them to find features typical of the region embodied within its gastronomic practice.
The wetland-dominated zone is teeming with aquatic life and local dwellers whose livelihoods are water-dependent can get really creative with their food. Dozen of mouth-watering dishes can be made from carp by grilling, steaming, deep-frying, etc. However, the carp hot pot is probably the most wholesome version of all as it makes up a very healthy and balanced – and not to mention – flavorsome diet.
a, Steamed Grass Carp in Thung Nham
This famous dish is always at the top of the list, receiving many compliments from tourists from all over the world. Not only is it special from the strict selection of ingredients, it is only processed from clean fish raised naturally in Thung Nham, reaching a weight of 3 – 5 kg, ensuring that the meat is always chewy, fragrant, and firm.
There are many ways to process this fish into attractive dishes such as: steaming, grilling, cooking soup… But perhaps, steamed grass carp is the dish with the most typical flavor of Thung Nham. All the ingredients used for this dish are raised right on the premises of the Tourist Area, from fish caught in the lake to the leaves and vegetables used in the processing and cooking process.
The fish intestines are minced with 7 types of wild vegetables and spices picked in the resort area: dill, perilla, piper lolot, chrysanthemum, mugwort, fig leaves, polyscias fruticosa… Before steaming, the chef will put the minced intestine mixture back into the fish and use lemongrass leaves to tie the fish body to fix it. The finished product will be a fresh and sweet steamed fish dish, with both a unique flavor and health benefits.
Steamed grass carp rolled with raw vegetables and served with Thung Nham sim wine as a “companion” will surely captivate many diners at first taste.
b, Grass carp hotpot
A whole, firm Grass carp bathes in Thung Nham’s special herbal hotpot broth.
The combination of herbs in the hotpot broth and fresh vegetables served with it brings balance and health to this dish. The sweet, fresh fish flavor quickly permeates the fragrant herbal aroma, dipped in spicy ginger and chili fish sauce, served with lettuce and sliced banana flowers will make you want to eat more and more.
The special thing about Vietnamese hotpot is that the food is hot and still steaming. Therefore, there is nothing better than a hotpot on a cool rainy day.
c, Grilled grass carp over cajuput charcoal
Grilled fish is probably a rustic dish that everyone is familiar with, but the special feature of Thung Nham grills is that they are grilled over cajuput charcoal. The fish meat is sweet, firm, has few small bones and has a fragrant aroma.
Associated with the childhood of many generations, grilled fish reminds us of the time when we were little boys and girls sitting by the stove with our mothers watching the small, bright flames dancing before our eyes. Mother’s hands gently turned each tray of fragrant fish.
Grilled fish over cajuput charcoal in Thung Nham will surely make you nostalgic about the old days, about the flavor of your mother’s cooking. Perhaps, that’s why when you dine here, you feel a little more poetic.
Talking about grilled fish with cajuput charcoal, the grass carp raised in Thung Nham’s Tien Lake is inherently very sweet, contains many nutrients, and is marinated carefully, grilled slowly on cajuput charcoal. When the fish meat is firm, the color gradually turns golden brown, and the fried wings are beautiful.
On cold autumn or winter days, you can slowly feel the crispy fish skin imbued with the smoky aroma of the countryside, the tough, firm, white meat inside, eaten with raw vegetables or dipped in ginger fish sauce with a little spicy chili, it’s delicious.
d. Braised carp with fermented rice
Fish is a source of endless inspiration for Thung Nham chefs, with just this ingredient, dozens of unique dishes with diverse processing methods are created. Among them, braised carp with fermented rice is still the most memorable dish.
The highlight of braised fish with fermented rice compared to other dishes is the strong aroma of dill, the rich, sweet, slightly sour taste of fish meat along with the refreshing fermented rice water. From familiar ingredients with 2 main ingredients, fish and sour fermented rice water, braised fish with fermented rice is extremely delicious, eaten with vermicelli, rice or used as hot pot broth.
However, to create the ultimate delicious taste, the fermented rice water must be seasoned just right, which is the key to the success of the dish. After sautéing the onions and garlic, it is necessary to use the broth (bone broth for many hours to extract all the sweetness from the pork bones), at this time the sour fermented rice water is added according to the “golden” ratio. When the fermented rice water boils, the chefs will put the cleaned and cut fish into bite-sized pieces into the pot. This dish is served to visitors similar to hot pot dishes, because it is enjoyed on a boiling stove, the fish meat is cooked to the point that we will enjoy it, served with raw vegetables for a delicious and authentic taste.
e. Salt-roasted catfish
Loved by all ages and always sought after by gourmets when coming to Thung Nham, salt-roasted catfish always has a special attraction because of its delicious, firm meat and rich nutrients. The crispy, fragrant taste imbued with the salty and sweet taste of spices and accompanying ingredients is worthy of being a priority choice in every family’s travel menu.
If the thickest, most delicious part of the catfish has scored absolute points, the special salt seasoning is an addictive factor for the whole dish with many unique ingredients such as: shrimp chips, shelled beans, angelica, dried galangal, white pepper, etc.
Thanks to this salt seasoning, salt-roasted catfish seems to contain a whole sky of flavors. The golden fish with a crispy crust, the fragrant aroma mixed with the salty taste of salt, adding crispy fried betel leaves to add a fresh green color creates an aesthetic as well as an irresistible eye-catching look.
Pick up a piece of fish and dip it in chili sauce. This is a delicious dish that no tourist can ignore.
f. Grilled snakehead fish with betel leaves
In the past, the typical specialties of each region were used to present to the king and grilled snakehead fish with betel leaves was also one of the famous delicacies, famous for that reason.
Snakehead fish is also known by another name, snakehead fish (snakehead fish presented to the king). The secret to making this dish famous is to only choose 1kg snakehead fish to marinate with galangal and me grilled sauce, the finished product will then be rolled in betel leaves. In particular, only Tham Tram when grilling snakehead fish can bring out the characteristic flavor of Thung Nham, more importantly, during the processing, it must be grilled evenly on cajuput charcoal for 1 hour.
Snakehead fish is “matched” with betel leaves, the taste is strange but familiar, the fish is well-cooked, rich, salty mixed with the spicy taste of lemongrass, galangal that lightly numbs the tongue, try the first bite and feel the aftertaste imbued with the spirit of Vietnamese cuisine with rustic, unique mountain and countryside products.
3. Cuisine specializing in hill chicken – wild duck
Mother Nature has bestowed on Thung Nham a rich ecosystem that is rarely found anywhere else. From these advantages, Thung Nham devotes all its heart and respect to respond to nature with local cuisine with delicious dishes made from hill chicken and wild duck. Every visitor who comes here can enjoy the most quintessential values of this land.
a. Grilled hill chicken
Chicken is a familiar and popular dish for everyone, but gourmets only like to eat hill chicken or “running” chicken because of its special delicious flavor.
Unlike industrial chickens, Thung Nham hill chickens are raised naturally and are planned in a separate corner of the garden area with a lot of space to “run” for food, so the meat is very firm. They find their own prey and feed, usually grass, herbs or insects in the wild, so when processed, hill chicken meat is often fragrant, soft and sweet.
At Thung Nham, the Hill Chicken dish is marinated with special spices and grilled whole, hot, served with fragrant yellow sticky rice and fresh vegetable salad picked from the garden.
The fatty, juicy taste of chicken and the fragrant sticky rice flavor are perfectly balanced by the fresh salad, bringing you a complete and satisfying meal.
b. Inescapable chicken
Arousing curiosity from the name, what kind of dish is chicken with no way out that has made the culinary world go crazy?
To prepare this elaborate dish, the chef must be experienced. Along with that, to make it the best, from the stage of choosing the chicken to choosing the rice must be careful. Only use hens weighing more than 1kg, the meat is soft, sweet and easy to eat. The sticky rice on the outside is made from large, plump, sticky rice grains. When cooked, the grains are soft, sticky and fragrant.
After being lightly fried, the chicken will be wrapped in a layer of sticky rice on the outside and fried in boiling oil at high temperature, fried until the sticky rice is crispy and golden, then chopped and served to visitors.
The dish is not only delicious but also especially nutritious, the presentation is unique and beautiful, the crispy, shiny sticky rice layer wraps around the chicken, easily stimulating everyone’s senses, satisfying from color, aroma, and taste, what could be more perfect.
Suggestion for you, enjoy this dish and don’t forget to dip it with salt, pepper and lemon to make the dish more flavorful!
c. Chicken stewed with Chinese herbs
A dish that wants to reach the pinnacle of cuisine must satisfy the requirements of beauty in presentation, attractiveness in color, freshness in flavor and great health benefits.
Let’s take a look at the chicken stewed with Chinese herbs, a luxurious dish used to nourish health. If the ingredients of Chinese herbs usually stop at medicinal herbs: licorice, angelica, wolfberry, red apple, but with Thung Nham, there is also the presence of premium herbs such as ginseng, cordyceps… All ingredients are measured according to a special recipe and stuffed into the belly of a young hen. When the chicken is just cooked, it will be transferred to a porcelain bowl, ensuring that the dish is always hot when enjoyed.
The broth is shimmering with caramel color, the chicken is soft and fragrant, the light herbal flavor is suitable for both children and the elderly. Eating chicken stewed with Chinese herbs helps nourish the liver and kidneys, clear heat, and regulate blood circulation.
When you come to Thung Nham, you should definitely try this dish!
d. Chicken stewed with chili pepper
If you are a fan of stewed dishes, you are no stranger to the name of chicken stewed with chili pepper – A nutritious dish especially suitable for the cold weather. What could be better than enjoying a hot bowl of chicken stewed with chili pepper on autumn and winter days with loved ones gathered at the Thung Nham food court to chat about the recent travel journey.
The spicy taste of chili pepper, the sweetness of chicken blends with the fragrant aroma of lemongrass and onions. All create a unique, rich flavor that is hard to describe. The dish is more flavorful when grilled chili pepper leaves are added to the broth. This is a unique secret only available at Thung Nham.
The attractive golden chicken with the green and red color of chili peppers is like an invitation urging visitors to enjoy this delicious dish.
e. Pumpkin stewed chicken
“Even if mountains and rivers separate
Pumpkin stewed chicken, do you remember, my friend…”
This dish originates from the taste of the Central region but is harmoniously presented by Thung Nham to become a touch point with Northern cuisine. Although the flavor has been adjusted to suit, it still retains the “soul” of the place where this dish was born.
This is a nutritious dish because it has many healthy ingredients: pumpkin and chicken. The aroma and sweetness of pumpkin and chicken blend together to create a unique flavor. Because it is simmered for many hours, the sweetness of pumpkin is absorbed into every piece of chicken meat, when eaten, the chicken is soft but still chewy with a sweet soup made from vegetables and delicious pumpkin, which will surely make you excited.
Pumpkin stewed chicken is worthy of being the number 1 cooling, detoxifying and delicious dish in the summer for all groups and families.
f. Steamed duck with sticky rice
Not as simple as boiled duck, steamed duck with sticky rice is an upgrade from simple ingredients: duck and sticky rice, but under the talented hands of a team of professional chefs, Thung Nham has created a nutritious dish that has won the hearts of visitors from near and far.
For duck to be delicious and authentic, the broth for steaming cannot lack the ingredients of ginger, galangal, pandan leaves, and turmeric that have been fried fragrantly. In addition, use the stir-fried duck gizzard, minced, and mixed with cooked sticky rice.
The duck is steamed until hot, chopped for visitors to enjoy. The duck meat is fragrant, firm, and served with sticky, fatty sticky rice because during the cooking process, the duck fat is absorbed into the sticky rice. The attractive aroma seems to fill the whole space. Enjoy this dish on a winter day with spicy wine for a perfect 10 points of quality.
g. Wild duck stewed with star fruit
To prepare this dish, you must choose the yellow-legged wild duck with a yellow beak. This type of wild duck has a lot of meat and few bones, and its meat is delicious and extremely attractive.
Preparing this dish is not too difficult, but it requires the chef to have the ability to skillfully season so that the salty and sweet flavors blend together to the best taste.
After preliminary processing, the duck is cut into bite-sized pieces, stir-fried with onions, ginger, and star fruit, and stewed with star fruit, taro, and coriander. Simmer over low heat until the duck is tender and tender.
Wild duck stewed with star fruit is soft and tender, eaten hot while it is boiling, the rich flavor, the rich broth mixed with the cool sour taste of star fruit is not boring to eat. The taro melts in your mouth, the dish is best eaten with vermicelli.
If one day you want to “change the wind”, come to Thung Nham to enjoy wild duck stewed with star fruit!
4. Goat meat
There is no denying that goat meat is built into Ninh Binh’s culinary brand, along with rice crust and free-range chicken meat. What sets Ninh Binh’s goat meat apart from that of other regions is the fact that the goats are raised on karst mountains instead of on the hills, farms, or in pens.
In Thung Nham, goats are raised on a separate island in Fairy Lake, which allows them to be able to run and climb the mountain freely, and, eating plants, grasses, mosses, and other alpine vegetation. All of which make our goat meat firmer and aromatic, not overly fatty but extremely tasty.
The goat meat is cooked to perfection, juicy and shiny, served with perilla, dipped in golden ginger soy sauce mixed by the Thung Nham chef according to a secret recipe with a slightly sour taste, creating a unique flavor that captivates many diners. If we were to describe the delicacy in this world, it would probably be summed up in the name “steamed goat with perilla”.
a. Goat steamed with perilla
The most popular dishes must include goat steamed with perilla. This dish is unique from the ingredients to the way it is enjoyed when only using fresh goat meat raised by Thung Nham on the goat island.
Premium ingredients, self-sufficient at the farm, seasonal food, seasonal vegetables, rare spices taken from the high mountains. All combine to create a unique and different local cuisine.
For that reason, goat steamed with perilla seems to be a simple dish but has an extremely sophisticated preparation method. Only the softest, most expensive young goat thigh meat is used, after being sliced thinly and eaten, it will be marinated with coriander seeds, lemongrass, perilla, and accompanying spices (fish sauce, salt, seasoning powder…).
When the meat is marinated, it will be served on a steamer and lit at the table to ensure freshness, heat, and to fully enjoy the original sweet and soft flavor.
b. Cast iron skillet goat meat
A dish that is both delicious and attractive as well as meticulous in the processing and selection of ingredients to reach the pinnacle of sophistication must be named goat fried in Ban Gang.
The main ingredient is young goat thigh meat cut into checkerboard shapes, marinated with coriander seeds and galangal, skillfully combined with special spices to create a rich and well-balanced flavor. The meat is fried in boiling oil with onions and garlic at high temperature, when the meat smells fragrant and turns golden brown and is cooked to the right degree, all the nutrients are condensed and complete. At this time, the dish will be placed on a cast iron plate to serve visitors. The golden, sizzling meat on the cast iron plate blends with the attractive aroma, the smoke billows, lingering around the space.
When enjoying, feel the crispy crust, the inside is still soft and moist, hot served with fried onions or garlic combined with rich ginger soy sauce to create a complete, elegant flavor that attracts the taste buds to the end.
c. Grilled goat meat
Vietnamese people always have a special affection for grilled dishes, and grilled goat block is no exception. In particular, grilled goat block at Thung Nham, the goat meat is always grilled whole on cajuput charcoal so it does not lose water, the meat is cooked evenly and has an attractive aroma.
The secret to making a perfect grilled dish lies in the marinating stage, Thung Nham chefs do not mix the marinade directly but use the juice from: lemongrass, ginger, galangal, onions and some precious ingredients. This juice is used to marinate the meat, which is extremely elaborate.
The dish is like a unique symphony, with the aroma of fire and fire, and the savory flavor of mountain products. A plate of grilled goat block mixed with spices, rich and fatty, with a beautiful golden brown color, dipped with sweet and sour sauce will surely easily please even the most difficult guests.
d. Stewed Goat Leg with Chinese Herbs
Many visitors to Thung Nham, Ninh Bình, have praised the distinct taste of the goat meat here, noting that it comes from goats raised in the wild on limestone mountains, where their diet mainly consists of grasses, medicinal leaves, and herbs.
The meat is fragrant, firm, low in fat, and seems to absorb all the natural essence of the land, making it even more delicious.
What makes the dish even more special is that it’s made from tender, nutrient-rich young goat legs, combined with dozens of rare medicinal herbs and natural plants. The stewed goat leg with Chinese herbs offers a delicate texture, with the meat melting in your mouth, blending perfectly with the sweetness of red dates, licorice, lotus seeds, ginseng, the mild bitterness from the “elixir” cordyceps, and the subtle sweetness of mung beans.
The flavor is intensified as you slowly savor the broth, which has been simmered for hours to extract all the nutrients, making it an unforgettable culinary experience.
e. Goat Meat with Lime
A delicate combination of goat meat with various fruits and vegetables, you’ll experience a harmonious symphony of flavors in this dish. The tender sweetness of the goat meat, the tangy freshness of pineapple, the spiciness of herbs, the crunchy coolness of cucumber and carrots, and the rich, fragrant taste of roasted sesame seeds all come together in perfect balance.
Eating Goat Meat with Lime feels like reflecting on the ups and downs of life. It captures the full range of flavors—sour, spicy, salty, and sweet—within one single dish.
No matter how many places you visit or how many regional specialties you try, everyone who has experienced this dish at Thung Nham will always remember it. This alone is enough to “glorify” the unique, thousand-year-old local culinary heritage.
f. Goat Leg Stewed with Mugwort Leaves
Although the ingredients and preparation method may resemble those of traditional Chinese herbal stewed goat dishes, where the meat is simmered with 18 kinds of precious herbs and spices like ginseng, cordyceps, dang shen, angelica, wolfberry, and lotus seeds, goat legs stewed with mugwort leaves stand out with their own distinctive flavor.
The dish carries the unique fragrance of traditional Chinese medicine and mugwort leaves. The goat legs are tender and juicy, maintaining the chewy texture of the skin, while the meat is soft, sweet, and deeply flavorful, making every bite irresistible.
A suggestion for you: Enjoying this dish with a bowl of white rice or vermicelli will elevate the experience to perfection. This hearty, energy-packed meal is just what you need to fuel up for an exciting day of exploration and discovery, don’t you think?
5. Special Delicacies
a. Braised Eel with Banana and Tofu
Tender pieces of green banana and soft, creamy tofu combine with the firm, sweet eel meat in this traditional dish, infused with the fragrant aroma of perilla and Vietnamese basil leaves. This harmonious blend of flavors will captivate your taste and smell, offering a perfect reflection of Vietnam’s authentic culinary heritage.
The green bananas, when braised, absorb the savory flavors from the pork belly and eel, becoming soft and sweet, while the eel remains tender yet firm. The thick, rich broth is a result of the starch released from the bananas, which gives it a slightly sticky texture. The aroma from the herbs — perilla and basil — makes this dish irresistibly inviting.
Best enjoyed with white rice or vermicelli, this comforting dish will certainly leave you craving for more.
b. Snail patties
With fresh, thick snail meat, finely chopped and mixed with minced pork shoulder, seasoned with traditional spices, and then shaped into small, round balls, snail cake is a delicacy that captures the essence of Thung Nham.
The steamed snail cakes are served with chili sauce. For a long time, snail cake has been a beloved dish of Thung Nham, and anyone who has tried it can’t help but be enchanted. It’s a simple dish, yet it creates an irresistible charm that leaves people craving for more.
The fragrance of the snail cakes fills the air, making your stomach growl with hunger. Once you take a bite, you’ll understand the full deliciousness of it.
The cakes are crispy and chewy, with the texture of the snails combined with the rich flavor of minced pork shoulder. The perfect balance of salty, spicy, sweet, and the unforgettable savory taste of Thung Nham snail cake will linger on your tongue.
With a passion and all the love for traditional cuisine, a desire to preserve and develop Vietnamese gastronomy, and a mission to bring the rich flavors of homeland dishes closer to people, especially those made from the natural produce of the mountains and forests, Thung Nham is gradually winning the hearts of travelers from all over the country.
With cuisine, everything is limitless. So, come to Thung Nham and conquer a new culinary map!
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