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Quy Nhon fish cake noodle soup
PointsThe highlight of Quy Nhon's fish cake noodle soup is the fish cake itself, made from plump, shiny, sweet-fleshed mackerel, which must be finely minced to create smooth, round, and moderately thick patties. The broth is made from mackerel bones and heads, resulting in a clear, naturally sweet flavor.
My An sea urchin paste
Sea urchins come in many varieties, but for making fermented sea urchin paste, you need the black native variety. The preparation method is as follows: Lightly trim the sharp spines surrounding the sea urchin, then carefully make a hole in its mouth. Carefully scoop out the meat and place it in a ceramic jar. Sprinkle with a little coarse salt, then bury it in the ash of a stove or sun-dry it for 10 to 15 days. The resulting fermented sea urchin paste is smooth, thick, reddish-brown, and intensely fragrant.
Sea urchin paste is not as common as other types of fish sauce, so sometimes, even with money, you can't buy it because you don't know where to find it, or those who do have it only use it to treat honored guests or save it as a gift for relatives.
Chau Truc Shrimp Noodle Soup
Making a delicious bowl of Chau Truc shrimp noodle soup requires many elaborate steps. First, the noodles are made. Rice is soaked in water until soft, then ground and drained in a cloth bag, then pounded until smooth. Each batch of flour is a portion, and the noodle vendor presses the noodles from this portion directly into the boiling water. The shrimp used must be live, jumping shrimp caught from the Chau Truc lagoon, pounded until smooth along with a little salt and chili...
When a customer orders the noodle soup, the vendor uses chopsticks to add a piece of shrimp to the bowl, adds a little MSG and fish sauce, pours in the boiling noodle broth, stirs well, then adds the noodles, sprinkles in some chopped scallions and cilantro, and a little pepper. This dish is served with crispy grilled rice paper.
Dieu Tri rice vermicelli
Banh hoi is a specialty of Binh Dinh province, with the most popular and delicious versions coming from Dieu Tri (Tuy Phuoc). The preparation method is as follows: Fragrant tám rice is thoroughly washed, soaked overnight, drained, and ground into a fine paste using a stone mortar. The rice paste is placed in a dry cloth bag and left to dry. The paste is then steamed until just cooked, kneaded, and divided into half-kilogram portions called "giao." These portions are then pressed into molds to form the cakes. The cakes are steamed until just cooked.
Rice vermicelli is usually served with grilled meat, but if you go to a rice vermicelli restaurant in Dieu Tri, when you order this dish, you will also get to enjoy two more dishes: porridge and offal.
The porridge was quite watery, cooked with pig's blood and minced lean meat. Beside the bowl of hot porridge was a plate of pig's offal, with thick slices of liver, brown sausage slices, round pieces of chewy heart, crunchy neck pieces, and thin slices of kidney. These were eaten with rice vermicelli, making the vermicelli unusually rich, sweet, and savory.
Nem Cho Huyen
Nem Cho Huyen is not as soft as Nem Thu Duc, nor as sweet as Nem Lai Vung or Nem An Cuu, but rather chewy, slightly crunchy, sour, crispy, and subtly sweet – a truly satisfying taste. Fresh Nem is delicious, but grilled over charcoal and served with rice paper, fried spring rolls, coriander, perilla, mint, sliced banana, star fruit, cucumber, dipping sauce (or soy sauce), and a few cloves of garlic and chili peppers makes it even better.
My Cang Banh Xeo (Vietnamese savory pancake)
The deliciousness of My Cang banh xem (Vietnamese savory pancake) comes from the fact that all the ingredients are made from local specialties. For example, the rice must be milled from rice grown in the eastern fields. The shrimp must be brackish water shrimp from Thi Nai lagoon. The dipping sauce must be made from pure fish sauce...
Banh xeo (Vietnamese savory pancake) is served with a side of pure rice paper, fresh vegetables, a few thinly sliced mango and cucumber, and a bowl of sweet, golden-yellow fish sauce with a distinct coastal flavor. The sweetness of fresh shrimp, the crispness of perfectly cooked rice, and a touch of sourness and astringency from the mango and unripe banana combine to create an incredibly appealing dish.
King crab
King crab is a specialty of the Tam Quan and De Gi coastal areas (Binh Dinh province). King crabs have a thick, hard shell, a vibrant yellow color like an emperor's robe, tiny sharp spines running along their bodies, and large, sharp claws that are distinctly different from other types of crabs.
There are many ways to prepare king crab, such as steaming and grilling. In particular, locals also prepare this king crab into a savory stew to eat with rice, or a king crab porridge with a layer of golden fried shallots on top, mixed with red crab roe and white crab meat.
