A: Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of VOV 24/7’s“Food delight”. We’re A and B. We’re very happy to be on the air with you. 

B: Hello A.Hello, you guys. Have you heard that bamboo can be a substitute for pots and pans?
A: Oh, come on, B. Bamboo’suses are numerous: building materials, fuel, baskets, ropes, boats, tools, musical instruments, and furniture. But bamboo as a cooking utensil?Definitely a “No” from me.
B: It will be a “No” until you try Lam rice, or rice in bamboo tubes, a typical dish of ethnic minorities in the mountainous areas of Northwest Vietnam.
A: I’ve heard about that dish butI have no idea how it is made. What does bamboo have to do with it?
B: The only ingredient needed is sticky rice; but it’s cooked in a bamboo cylinder. People put rice into the cylinder with a little water, then wrap the cylinder in a banana leaf and bake it over low heat. 

A bite ofLam rice with some fragrant grilled fish and a sip of corn wine will make you fall in love with Thai cuisine (Source: gocom.vn)

A: Maybe it should be eaten with salted sesame, grilled pork, or chicken skewers. 

B: Why not? In the past people often went hunting deep in the forest. It was inconvenient for them to cook without a kitchen, so they had to figure out an expedient. They cut some bamboo tubes to serve as containers, got some clean spring water, put in whatever food they had brought with them, like rice and meat, and built a fire to cook the tubes over. Nowadays, Lam rice is an everyday dish and a specialty which tourists find tempting and irresistible. 
A: Oh I get it. Baking something in a bamboo tube sounds fun and interesting.  But as a newbie cook, who hardly knows a pan from a knife, I need a little help with even such a simple dish. 
B: That’s why I invited Mrs. Hoang ThiTheu, a Thai resident of Cat Cat Village, San Xa Ho district, Lao Cai province to talk about this dish.  “The rice is cooked in a type of bamboo that Thai people call “Khảu lam pắcngá”. This bamboo is fresh and young so that the new membrane inside the tube can add a special flavor, fragrance, and sweetness. The rice used to make Lam Rice is grown in the high mountains, and is white, soft, and sweet-smelling. To prepare the rice, first fill the tube with rice and water, then wrap the tube with banana leaves and then cook it over a fire until it smells pleasant.”
A: When the rice is cooked, the aroma of bamboo is absorbed into the rice grains. A bite of this rice will taste like fresh bamboo.
B: According to Theu, the softness and freshness of rice roasted in fragrant bamboo will keep for 10 hours or more, and it's tasty served hot or cold. This cooking method preserves the nutrients and aroma of the rice,because the ends of the tube are closed during the cooking. 

The rice is colored scarlet, pink, green, or yellow using medicinal herbs, so it is not only delicious and colorful, it’s also good for your health (Source: huyennampo.gov.vn)

A: Nowadays, ethnic people have developed dozens of variations of Lam rice, in which peanuts or beans or bamboo shoots are added. Thai people even color the rice for special occasions such as weddings or ritual ceremonies. Theu again: “The rice is colored scarlet, pink, green, or yellow using medicinal herbs,so it is not only delicious and colorful,it’s also good for your health. After cooking, we skillfully remove the burned outer layers of bamboo until there is only one thin layer of bamboo covering the rice.”

B: To eat the rice, peel off the last layer, which is black from being grilled. I love the fact that when you peel the bamboo away, the powdery fiber in the bamboo tube leaves a sheen and the rice comes out shaped like a stick and looks like it is wrapped in edible paper.
A: This combination of rice and bamboo tubes creates a dish that has the special taste of a mountain wilderness. A bite of Lam rice with some fragrant grilled fish and a sip of corn wine will make you fall in love with Thai cuisine.
B: For more recipes, visit vovworld.vn/Food-delight, where some great recipes are already waiting. Join us next week for more tips on diversifying your menu. And now, good bye.
A: Bye.