What to eat in Phu Quoc

Fringed with white-sand beaches and with large tracts still cloaked in dense, tropical jungle, Phu Quoc rapidly morphed from a sleepy island backwater to a must-visit destination for Western expats and sun-seeking tourists who want to make an escape by a tour full of new experience to Vietnam. Beyond the resorts lining Long Beach, it’s still largely undeveloped, so there’s ample room for exploration and escaping. Dive the reefs, kayak in the bays, eat up the back-road miles on a motorbike, or just live the life of a lotus eater by lounging on the beach, indulging in a massage and dining on fresh seafood.

The amazing sceneries of Phu Quoc Island

1. Phu Quoc Sardinella Salad

Enriched with the flavor of the sea, the sardinella salad is loved by many people. This bucolic meal, yet elegant, is the reason why so many people come to Phu Quoc every year to enjoy the sea and the delicious sardinella salad.

After washing and removing the fins, the chef will have to slice the sardine into thin many very slices. Then he or she will use lemon juice, thin sliced chili, sliced onion to mix with the sardines. Rice paper, herbs, and dried coconut meat are essential to this dish. Eating the sardinella salad, it is required to have both the home-grown vegetables and the herbs from the jungle. There are total 8 types of herbs while the home-grown vegetables including salad, basil, and many others. When eating the salad, you can taste the soft, and a bit sour of the fish, the fat of the coconut, and peanut, and the bitter of the jungle herbs. The herbs or its bitter will help food lovers who haven’t eaten salad with coconut milk from having a stomachache. The rice papers from Phu Quoc, big and limber, are also quite different from many other regions. Because of that, when making the rolls, the rice paper won’t be broken. This is also a special feature of the rice paper in Phu Quoc.

Phu Quoc Sardinella Salad

The sauce is also special. Made of chili, garlic, fried peanut, the sauce is a harmony combination of fat and chili, sour and sweet. Food lovers will have to come back for more.

Last but not least is the wine to drink along. While the fish is nutritious, it can be tough to the digest system. A bit of Sim Wine will help you eat better and tastier.

2. Sea Urchin

Sea urchin, or the spike ball, is a amazing dish that should definitely try when visiting Phu Quoc. Among many sea species, not one is as good as the sea urchin, especially its eggs. Splitting the urchin in half, the ball is hollow but there is meat stick to the surface. The meat has a yellow color like cream cheese. The best part is the urchin’s eggs, which are fat and sweet and to be considered as the gift of nature. The urchin is also known as the ginseng of the sea, which is very nutritious and good for your health.

Sea Urchin

The locals cook the urchin in so many ways. The most complicated one is that they will take all the meat inside, fried with fat and garlic and drop all in the boiling pot of porridge. The urchin porridge is fat, sweet, and nutritious and it will help you recover promptly after many days traveling. The most common way is to cut the urchin in half, and grilled on the fire. Grilling the urchin a few minutes on the fire, removing the meat and dipping it in the sauce and you will never forget it.

3. Grilled Egg Squid

The grilled squid is a bucolic dish, just like people in Phu Quoc, simple and hospitality. The egg squid is bigger than the adult’s thumb with a belly full of eggs. The squid season is from February to May of the Lunar year. There are many ways to cook them. You can make porridge, steam, boil, grilled, fry, all are delightful in the same way.

Grilled Egg Squid

The squid needs to be cleaned first, seasoned with chili salt, cooking oil for 15 minutes for the seasoning to be absorbed. Lastly, putting it on the firing charcoal until the meat has a yellow color, adding some herbs and dipping the squid in the sauce and you will know that you are in wonderland.

4. Tuna Fish Rolls Soup Cake

Visiting Phu Quoc, alongside with the delicious seafood is the delightful tuna soup cake that is sold every night on almost every street food. The delicious bowl of soup cake must have the equally delicious sauce—the famous Phu Quoc fish sauce to have with. The cake is soft and chewy, made from rice. Nowhere in Vietnam has that had the better soup cake than Phu Quoc.

Tuna Fish Rolls Soup Cake

You enjoy a wonderful bowl of soup cake at Master Palace market, where you can find almost anything on the island such as shrimp, fish, snail…

5. Phu Quoc Pepper

Pepper is one of the best cuisines in Phu Quoc Island. The pepper is aroma and spicy, and much stronger than any other regions’ peppers. There are three types of peppers: skull, black and red peppers. Each has its unique characteristics but the strongest one is the red pepper. The pepper is collected manually when it ripe.

Phu Quoc Pepper

Phu Quoc is not only the pearl with seafood but also a wonderland with fruits and other mountains cuisines…

So if you’re searching for a journey to get out of the busy daily life, then making a trip to Phu Quoc Island or Pearl Island of Vietnam will leave you not only interesting experience, but also unforgettable memories.