Rich in Phu Yen delicacies

Give me a jar of "lighthouse"!

I was stunned for a few seconds when I heard the locals ordering food at the restaurant near the intersection of Tuy Hoa City Square. I asked the owner and found out that “Sea Light” was actually tuna eye. My companion quickly ordered two jars like the one from the table next to me. After only five minutes, the jar was brought to the table and placed still warm.

Tuna eyes, a specialty dish of Phu Yen. Photo: PV

For those who do not like fish head, they will feel a little apprehensive when they see the big round fish eye peeking out from under the pieces of wolfberry, jujube, and green onion in the earthenware jar. Carefully asking the waiter, I added some herbs and chopped perilla leaves to the jar and enjoyed. Scooping spoonfuls of broth, pieces of jujube, wolfberry, and then the fish eye, enjoying the rich, fatty taste of the fish eye, the sweet taste of the broth, and the richness of the spices of onion, pepper, chili, and garlic. Finally, the spicy taste of Chinese medicine and red chili lingered on the tip of my tongue.

Although tuna season in Phu Yen is in the fourth lunar month, coming here at any time, it will not be difficult for you to enjoy dishes made from this delicious tuna.

Reference address:

+ You can enjoy this dish at restaurants on Le Duan, Le Loi, Tran Hung Dao streets. Most of the restaurants have a big sign saying “ocean tuna specialty”.

+ Depending on the size of the tuna eyes, a jar can hold one or two tuna eyes. Price is around 20,000 VND/jar.

+ In some restaurants, they will bring the whole jar with the lid on a small plate and bring it to the customers, in which, on the side of the plate, there is a lit alcohol ball to keep the dish hot. Under the alcohol flame, the jar of fish eye looks like a lighthouse.

Enjoy Vietnamese style Sashimi

Diners who have fallen in love with Japanese sashimi will be extremely satisfied after enjoying Vietnamese-style sashimi in Phu Yen. That is a dish of raw ocean tuna eaten with wasabi (locally called "potash").

We ordered a plate of tuna to neutralize the fatty taste of the tuna eye before. As a fresh dish, tuna must be processed and preserved immediately after being caught to maintain its freshness. The large, bright red fish blocks are cut into pieces 4cm long, about 2.5cm wide, 0.5cm thick, and then refrigerated. When presented to the diners, the chef will arrange on the plate the cool, eye-catching pink tuna pieces along with a bowl of soy sauce with mustard and herbs such as green mustard, coriander, Vietnamese coriander, basil, mint…

Diners can eat the fish "bare" or rolled in cabbage leaves, served with herbs. Photo: PV

When enjoying, diners just need to pick up each piece of raw fish and dip it into the soy sauce to soak it evenly on the surface, then sprinkle roasted peanuts on top, eat with herbs, chili, garlic... Diners can eat the fish "bare" or roll it in cabbage leaves, eat with herbs. Each piece of fresh fish brings a sweet taste with just the right amount of softness without any fishy smell, combined with the aroma of raw vegetables, the spicy smell of mustard... all blend together and gradually melt in the mouth, so refreshing.

Reference address:

+ Ba Tam Restaurant - 289 Le Duan, restaurants on Le Duan, Le Loi, Tran Hung Dao streets... Price: 100,000 VND/portion for two people.

+ In addition to tuna eyes and fresh tuna, you cannot miss other delicious dishes made from tuna such as: stir-fried fish intestines, tuna stomach salad, tuna porridge, steamed fish eggs, steamed fish intestines...

Banh beo chen - The essence of rice

Banh beo chen is a dish found in many streets and alleys in Phu Yen, for an afternoon snack or for a night out. I learned about this dish when I stopped by Ms. Mai's shop after an afternoon wandering the streets at the foot of Nhan Mountain. The vendor quickly placed 10 steamed bowls of flour on a tray, continued to sprinkle pork floss, crispy fried bread and scallion oil on top of each bowl and brought it out to us, not forgetting to add a bowl of sweet and sour fish sauce. Just sprinkle some fish sauce on the bowl and enjoy, you will feel the toughness and elasticity of the flour, the delicious aroma of pork floss and scallion oil blending together, it is hard to refuse.

Each bowl of banh beo has the fragrant smell of pork floss, crispy fried bread and fatty scallion oil. Photo: PV

Reference address: Some restaurants right at the foot of Nhan mountain, such as Co Mai restaurant, restaurant 92. Price: 20,000 VND/ tray of 10 cups of banh beo.

Enjoy some sun-dried beef and ant salt

As one of the specialties of the rich land of Phu Yen, sun-dried beef with ant salt is used by many diners as a snack during every meal or chosen as a gift for relatives after a trip away from home. The name of sun-dried beef comes from the way it is prepared. The dish is made from the loin and thigh of the cow, sliced ​​into thin pieces, marinated with spices such as sugar, salt, seasoning powder, crushed chili, sesame. The meat is left to dry in the sun for a day, so it is called sun-dried beef. The dried beef is put in a bag for storage, when eaten, it is taken out and grilled on a charcoal stove to have a fragrant, golden brown color. The cooked meat will be put on a cutting board, lightly pounded with a pestle to soften the beef, then torn into bite-sized pieces.

Sun-dried beef has a special dipping sauce of yellow ant salt. Photo: dacsanbomotnang.com

Sun-dried beef is served with cucumber, green banana, herbs and a special dipping sauce of ant salt made from ants and ant eggs with a mixture of salt, lemongrass and chili. Each piece of beef is fragrant, sweet and chewy mixed with the characteristic sour and spicy taste of ant salt, truly captivating many diners.

Reference address:Chuc Chuc Restaurant and some restaurants along Bach Dang embankment. Price: 90,000 VND/dish.

Famous blood cockles of O Loan lagoon

In addition to the list of famous landscapes in Phu Yen, do not forget to spend time exploring O Loan lagoon and enjoy the specialties here, especially the blood cockles that have long been a culinary brand for this land. O Loan lagoon is a brackish water lagoon located next to National Highway 1A, at the foot of Quan Cau pass, 22km from Tuy Hoa city, with very famous specialties such as blood cockles and oysters. Blood cockles here are famous for their thick, sweet meat, prepared in many versions: grilled with scallion oil, grilled with all, steamed with lemongrass, tamarind sauce, fried with salt and chili, porridge... When the grilled blood cockles are served hot, each one has plump meat, you just need to take each one, split the hard fan-shaped shell in half, take the meat inside with bright pink blood mixed with dark yellow brick color, inhale the sweet water and sip to enjoy.

Blood cockles have thick, sweet meat, and are processed into grilled dishes with scallion oil, grilled with everything... Photo: PV

Reference address:You can enjoy blood cockles at O ​​Loan lagoon, there is an An Hai bridge food court with floating restaurants on the water. Tuan restaurant serves this dish quite well. Price: 240,000 VND/kg.

During your journey to discover Phu Yen, you can completely change the menu with chicken rice, rice vermicelli with pork offal, rice noodle soup with chives, clay pot rice, seafood dishes such as king crab, jumping snails, long snails, grouper... Each dish has the typical features of the simple and hospitable South Central Coast.

Lan Vu

The Thanh