Japanese tourists try 'eaten alive' dish in Vietnam, from worry to praise

Papaken (born 1989) is a Japanese content creator, living in Hanoi for about 3 years.

On his personal YouTube channel with hundreds of thousands of followers, Papaken regularly shares videos about his travel and culinary experiences in some provinces and cities in Vietnam that he has had the opportunity to visit.

Recently, in a video sharing about a trip to Quy Nhon commune, Gia Lai province (Quy Nhon city, former Binh Dinh province) with his two children, Papaken introduced some local dishes that he had the opportunity to enjoy such as banh xeo, vermicelli with shrimp, vermicelli with crab...

Among them, there was a dish that he tried for the first time but was very impressed, continuously praising it as delicious. That was mai fish salad.

Mai fish salad 1.png — Papaken took his two children to enjoy the famous Mai fish salad in Quy Nhon.

Papaken said that when he searched for addresses of good restaurants in Quy Nhon, he saw many suggestions for fish salad. Even when he saw pictures of this dish on Instagram, he thought it was quite delicious so he decided to take his two children to eat it.

The place they visited was a famous fish salad restaurant nestled in a small alley on Tran Hung Dao street.

The restaurant has been open for about 40 years and has become a favorite dining spot for locals and tourists alike. The restaurant only sells two dishes: grilled beef and fish salad, but it is always bustling with customers.

Here, Papaken and his three children ordered a grilled beef dish for 120,000 VND and a fish salad dish for 110,000 VND.

mai fish salad.png — Attractive grilled beef and anchovy salad, served with special dipping sauce and raw vegetables and herbs

When the food was served, the Japanese guest found the fish salad to be quite attractive, served with raw vegetables, herbs, grilled rice paper (banh da) and two types of dipping sauce, including soy sauce with garlic chili soy sauce.

However, Papaken admitted to being a bit worried because this dish is made from fresh fish, not going through the heat cooking process like regular dishes.

However, having experience enjoying many unique dishes in Vietnam, he boldly squeezed more lemon to make the fish meat rare.

“This is also the first time I eat raw fish so I don’t know what it tastes like. I wonder if it’s delicious?”, Papaken said to his two children.

To enjoy the dish, he instructed his two children to soften the rice paper by dipping it in water. Then, roll the rice paper with fish salad and herbs, add crispy rice paper and dip it in the sauce.

After tasting the first piece of fish salad, the Japanese YouTuber praised it as “so delicious”. He commented that the fish meat was white so the taste was quite bland.

However, the fish is processed fresh so it has absolutely no fishy smell and when combined with the dipping sauce, it will have a richer flavor.

The guest also added that the salad was really fresh and delicious, blending the sour taste of mango, lime juice with the refreshing taste of fish.

Kai - Papaken's son also commented, saying the fish salad "has a crunchy feeling".

“This salad tastes better with soy sauce than soy sauce. It is especially delicious when rolled with more fish meat,” he shared his personal opinion.

According to the reporter's research, not only in Quy Nhon, mai fish salad is also a popular dish in some coastal areas of Vietnam. The most delicious is in the localities in the South Central Coast and the South such as Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan (now Lam Dong), Ba Ria - Vung Tau (now Ho Chi Minh City), Kien Giang, Ca Mau...

This salad is made from anchovy - a type of fish that looks like anchovies, about the size of 1-2 fingertips, has a transparent body and silver scales.

The meat of the anchovy is chewy, crispy, sweet and bloodless so it is not fishy, suitable for making salad dishes.

Thanh Kieu fish salad.png — Mai fish salad is made from fresh ingredients, not cooked by heat but is favored by diners because of its cool, fresh taste. Photo: Thanh Kieu fish salad

Mr. Minh Hai - a long-time chef in Quy Nhon said that the anchovies used to make salad must be fresh, newly caught and of uniform size.

Next, the fish is scaled, washed, then the meat is filtered and the bones are removed. This step requires the chef to be skillful, working gently but firmly so as not to crush the fish meat, ensuring the quality of the dish.

Mr. Hai said that after filtering the anchovy, you can squeeze it with lemon juice or vinegar to make it half-cooked, then squeeze it, wait for it to drain, then mix in a few ingredients such as garlic, chili, lemongrass, etc. and season to taste.

In some places, people also mix the fish salad directly and leave the lemon separately. Customers can choose to squeeze more or not before enjoying.

The highlight that makes the anchovy salad more attractive is the dipping sauce. In addition to soy sauce with garlic and chili, local restaurants also serve dipping sauce made from soybean paste, skillfully mixed to have an orange-yellow color, achieving a smooth consistency, harmonious with the salty, sweet, sour and spicy flavors.

Depending on your preference, you can enjoy the fish salad in two ways. One is to use grilled rice paper to scoop the fish salad, dip it in the sauce and enjoy.

Second, roll the fish salad with broken rice paper, add raw vegetables, herbs and dip.

This dish is considered to be refreshing. The fresh, chewy, crunchy, naturally sweet anchovy meat combined with the thick, aromatic dipping sauce makes diners remember it forever.

Photo: Papaken - family Life in Vietnam

Foreign guests try chicken pho for 150,000 and 60,000 VND in Hanoi, conclude 1 thing . Experiencing Hanoi chicken pho with two versions, from popular to high price, foreign guests like the dish with soft, fragrant, juicy chicken the most.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/khach-nhat-thu-mon-an-tuoi-nuot-song-o-viet-nam-tu-lo-lang-den-nuc-no-khen-2450748.html