Head to the mountainous region and enjoy a series of famous and delicious Pleiku specialties.

Bun mam cua (rice noodles with crab paste)

Bun mam cua, also known as bun cua, is considered a specialty dish that appeals to a select few due to the distinctive flavor of its crab paste. Tourists can easily find this dish all over the streets of Pleiku.

A truly authentic bowl of bun mam cua (rice noodles with fermented crab sauce) is a blend of various ingredients such as sour bamboo shoots, fried pork skin, freshwater crab, pork belly, and accompanying vegetables, all presented in an attractive and appealing way.

Despite its unique, pungent smell of pure fish sauce and fermented crab broth, crab noodle soup has the potential to be addictive to any visitor who has ever tasted it. The distinctive pungent and salty flavor of the fish sauce, the aroma of the herbs, the spiciness of the chili, and the crunchy texture of the pork skin all blend together to create a very appealing and delicious dish.

Yellow ant salt

Yellow ant salt is made from yellow forest ants from the Ayun Pa and Krong Pa regions of Gia Lai province. It is one of Pleiku's famous specialties, and to harvest it, people have to painstakingly climb deep into the forests to catch large ant nests, which are then processed into salt.

At first glance, yellow ant salt might seem intimidating to many, but once tasted, it has a unique and appealing flavor profile that is slightly sour, pungent, fatty, sweet, and spicy. Importantly, yellow ant salt is also very nutritious.

Grilled beef in bamboo tubes

It's called "beef grilled in a tube" because the beef is placed inside a tube and grilled.

The main ingredient of this delicious Pleiku dish is beef cut into bite-sized pieces, mixed and marinated with spices such as lemongrass and basil leaves, then marinated for about 30 minutes before being placed into tubes (fresh, young bamboo or reed tubes), sealed with pandan leaves, and grilled.

This delicious Pleiku dish attracts diners not only because of its name, but also because the aroma of the meat emanating from inside the bamboo tube stimulates the appetite.

Dry pho

In Pleiku, dry pho is a famous and delicious dish that you can easily find at pho restaurants all over the city. This dish is also known as "two-bowl pho," because when enjoying it, diners are served two bowls, one containing the noodles and the other the broth.

A bowl of dry pho in Pleiku is incomplete without finely minced pork, shredded chicken, and crispy fried shallots. The broth consists of chicken stock, rare or medium-rare beef, beef shank, or beef meatballs, depending on personal preference. The accompanying vegetables for dry pho are lettuce, basil, and raw bean sprouts.

When enjoying dry pho, you'll experience the chewy sweetness of the noodles, the delicate sweetness of the broth, and the rich, flavorful soy sauce.

Sun-dried beef

After cleaning, the beef is marinated with spices and then sun-dried outdoors for a day. Once dried, the beef is grilled traditionally over hot charcoal. At this point, the meat is fully cooked, with a fragrant smoky flavor, a rich sweetness, a chewy texture, and a savory, spicy kick from the spices. This is also a great souvenir to buy when traveling to the mountain town.