Excellent seafood in Halong

Excellent seafood of Vietnam, you must come to coastal region such as Halong, Nha Trang or Phu Quoc… Come to Halong bay, besides exploring the picturesque beauty of the gulf, should not miss the opportunity to enjoy excellent seafood dishes which become trade mark as follow

1. Grilled Chopped Squid (Chả Mực)

The fish dish appear in my mine is Grilled Chopped Squid. It is absolutely one of the most Vietnamese excellent seafood. This dish has its own flavor, yellow color and special taste which comes from Halong cannot be mistaken with other places. Normally, Vietnamese bring home some kilograms of Cha Muc as a gift for friends or relatives when they come to visit Halong.

The good Grilled Chopped Squid after processing has yellow color, fragrant smell, a little bit crunchy and tough with less fat. The taste is blended with special sauce making a delicious dish. The most common combination is that squid serves with steamed white sticky rice and coconut water or spring rolls

A little tip to find the good one is food area next to the Cross street (phố Cây Tháp). According to me, this place sales the best one in Halong!

2. Earthworm (Sá Sùng)

They’re marine worms that were first described in 1827 by a French zoologist. They are mollusk that lived only in the coastal sands where high tide and low tide makes dune. Sa Sung have much nutritional value such as amino acids, glycine, alanine, glutamine, succinic ... and taurine, minerals. An excellent seafood that natural gifts for human!

In Vietnam, they live much more in coastal area of Van Don and Mong Cai (Quang Ninh province), Cu Be and Turtle Island in Nha Trang province, Con Dao Island… The fresh Sa Sung is about 5 to 10 cm long and 15 cm long in particular sometimes. Harvest season is from March to July. Fishermen often dig at dune when low tides occur.

They’re sandy, so need to roast them in a dry skillet. Use medium heat, turn and shake the skillet for the while, and dry it in the sun twice or thrice until they puff up a bit, and darken. Then break them into sections and shake out the sand.

One tip of Vietnamese recipes to make an excellent Pho (Noodle) is Sa Sung. Dried marine worm product that’s full of tasty, a deep savory-sweetness, when put it into the pot of pho broth the broth becomes remarkably fragrant.

Special, dried earthworm is roasted, it turns yellow color and have aromatic odor with fragrance of the sea. Sa sung is served with chili sauce lettuce, herbs, and drink beer that enough to satisfy even the most fastidious guest

3. Horseshoe crab

Horseshoe crabs are always together with their mates and they are ancient creatures. They are also used in intensive research for cancer cure. It has been warned to eat them because eating the wrong organ of the horseshoe crab can make allergic or get a high. But if cook knows how to make, it becomes a delicious dish. That is the reason why not easy to find the restaurant sales it in Halong.

From horseshoe crab can be processed to many excellent and exotic dishes such as: horseshoe crab's blood curds, horseshoe crab salad, fried sweet and sour crab legs, fried horseshoe crab’s eggs, steamed horseshoe crab, fried breaded horseshoe crab and fried horseshoe crab with vermicelli...

As I know, the good one is serve at Gieng Don Street and Cao Xanh Street.

4. Clam

A saltwater bivalve with a sea-salty flavor and a succulent texture and own a good source of zinc, which supports the immune system clams are used to bulk out dishes such as pies, soups and stews

Dishes made from clam offered extremely attractive taste. Contrary to horseshoe crab or earthworm, almost any seafood restaurant in Halong have it in the menu items, so it is not difficult for you to taste the dish then cannot forget when leaving

5. Geoduck Clam

Geoduck clam is rare seafood and has high economic value. In Vietnam, Geoduck clam lives in Khanh Hoa province, Quang Ninh province, Hai Phong province... Geoduck clam’s meat is aroma, sweet and very nutritious and especially good for men. It is often processed to delicious dishes such as porridge, boiled, steamed, baked...

No matter how to cook, geoduck clam must eat when it is still hot to feel all the crunchy and sweet of its. Bite a piece of geoduck clam’s meat, you will feel the characteristic sweetness, charming that spreading out the tongue with extremely pleasant aroma

Ha Long Bay is one of the rare areas that are endowed with both the grandeur wonders and special marine species - raw materials contributed to the excellent seafood dish. If you have a chance to visit Halong, do not miss it!