Phu Quoc Cuisine

 PHU QUOC CUISINE – The Asian ocean soul

Written by: Trường Sơn

No matter how you travel to Phu Quoc- by speedy boat or by air, you will be enchanted by the lush green color of the ocean here. Once arriving in this island, you will be attached by generosity and friendliness of the local people. And once you have tried the seafood specialties, their remaining tastes will be following you wherever you go, recalling you to remember excessively this island when thinking of it.

Phu Quoc - the natural heaven for a "food bon vivant" 

Tour-asia.net Phu Quoc

It is likely that this island is gifted by nature to have such a favorable weather and offering it abundant seafood. Just take a glance at menus of any restaurants here with their “soft prices” you will see it true. Herring salad may hinder you at first as it is made of raw fish, but as you bravely roll the rice paper with some aromatic herbs, some grated coconut and some pieces of raw herring, then dip it into the excellent special fish sauce made in Phu Quoc, eating with some roast peanuts, garlic and red pepper chili, the first hindering feeling will be gone, but a delicious taste of the fine mixture and combination instead. “Don’t forget to try some wine made from “Tomentosa rose myrtle” fruits, as simply when eating such a rich protein salad of herring, this wine will add extra flavors and help digest the food better. 

Phu Quoc - sea urchins

Sea urchins will bring you another feeling. Belonging to mollusk and relating to pearls, shellfish, sea urchins have flat round shape with thorns all around, an “adult” one is as big as a fist. Their body is made from 5 or 8 purplish pinky segments. Connoisseurs will eat them with mustard. The extreme hot flavor of mustard will take the fishy smell away, leaving it with just fatty and buttery flavor. However, in order to enjoy to the fullest their freshness, sweetness and fragrance, it’s advisable to eat with a mixture of salt, pepper and lemon squeezed extract. Sea urchins can be of course cooked into many different dishes depending on people from different regions, like simmering them, cooking rice porridge, mincing them to make steamed shellfish pie or barbecuing them…However, sea urchins in Phu Quoc just show all their best when eaten simply in the original way.

Phu Quoc - Coi bien mai

Tour-asia.net Phu Quoc coi-bien-mai

“Coi bien mai” is a part connecting the 2 shells of the “bien mai” shellfish. Once the main body is used for another purpose, this connecting part is just like a useless leftover. But surprisingly, this leftover part has driven connoisseurs in Ho Chi Minh crazy when it comes to this city and becomes an excellent snack. While in Pearly Phu Quoc, with only some dozens of thousands VND, you can buy dozens of skews barbecued with salt and red pepper eaten with some young okras. “Coi bien mai” can also be made in many different ways like roasting, boiling and steaming, but just like the sea urchins, they show their best when eaten barbecued in original way. The main element of their excellent flavor is made from the combination of tenacity and brittleness when barbecued. Nothing can be compared with a good feeling of tasting this when just emerging from the sea, in the blowing wind, with a little salty taste on your lips, gathering with friends by a charcoal fire barbecuing these sea shells, you will feel deeply their flavor spreading all around. The sweetness of “còi bien mai” blended with the saltiness of the sea and a little hotness of chili on the tongue is unbeatable delicious.

Phu Quoc - Shrimps and crabs

Shrimps and crabs are other categories. These seafood are available everywhere inland so you may think they are just the same as they are on this island. No, you are wrong if you keep that thought in your mind. Once coming to this Pearly island, don’t hesitate to spend some hundreds thousands VND buying some dozens of sea crabs and asks the shopkeeper to boil them up for you until when they turn from greenish blue to red, then enjoy them to feel the best of them. Sea crabs in Phu Quoc are not big but firm. If you like their roe, choose the female ones, if you like their flesh, choose the male ones. Sea crabs are available here all year round without equivalent quality in any season. There are many noticeable points in a menu like crab rice, crab porridge or crabs steamed in beer…But just choose boiled crabs, as when boiling, crabs still remain their alluring taste and indescribable juicy and sweet flesh. When putting them into your mouth, the extraordinarily extricate taste can be clearly felt. Eat a piece of boiled crabs with some pieces of aromatic herbs, some pieces of red chili and a sip of beer, then close your eyes to enjoy slowly the fine combination, to see you are immersing in the beloved sea. The best crabs here are from Ham Ninh, which is 20 km away from Duong Dong town. 

Phu Quoc - seafood and...more seafood

Mackerel pasta soup will also give you a wonderful experience thanks to its harmonious combination between the sea and land. Phu Quoc pasta soup is well-known thanks to its sheer ingredient of mackerel, fresh, sugary and suitable with different people. The secret to have a delicious bowl of pasta soup is thanks to the broth cooked from shank and chopped pork. Even steamed fish pie (cha ca) is also made from mackerel and well meticulously cooked with spices making it brittle and tough. Pasta soup in Phu Quoc is a delicate combination of fish and pork, of sweetness and fattiness, especially the secret of what and how much spices to marinate. When tasting, you can feel the deliciousness from soft white pasta and fish pie, mildly salty and sweet flavor of the broth, the hotness of the sauce and fragrance of aromatic herbs. 

Phu Quoc - exotic traditional culinary in Vietnam

No one can understand the culinary elites of Phu Quoc as much as the local people. Those above mentioned dishes are the quintessence from many generations of the first residents. Cuisine and culinary etiquette should closely relate to living atmosphere and geographical and natural conditions. If someone tries to make the local dishes according to their own regional ways, the pure and original flavors creating a miracle of pure cuisine will disappear and all that you can feel is the ingredients and recipes themselves. Therefore, when traveling to the island with its beautiful name “Pearly”, enjoy to the fullest the local people’s life here. I am sure you will have a journey full of memories when coming back home.

Reference addresses

Trung Duong Restaurant (Block 1, 30/4 street, Duong Dong town);

Le Giang (Tran Hung Dao street, Block 1, Duong Dong town;

Vuon Tao (Apple Garden) eatery (Cua Lap Ward, Duong To village, Phu Quoc town);

Ham Ninh Fishing Village Restaurant (Rach Ham Hamlet, Ham Ninh center).

Reference prices

A portion of “Còi biên mai” for 2 pax: 40.000 – 70.000 VND.

Herring salad at very reasonable prices from: 30.000 VND/dish for 2 pax

Ham Ninh crabs: from 100.000-150.000 VND/kg.

 

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