Nhon Trach will be the youngest city in Dong Nai, why here, as soon as you leave the alley, you immediately encounter countryside specialties?

In the future, Nhon Trach will be a new city of Dong Nai province. The urbanization rate of this locality is taking place rapidly. However, Nhon Trach is famous for many rural specialties, especially brackish water seafood dishes.

The owner of Mrs. Tam's sour shrimp facility in Phuoc An commune, Nhon Trach district, Dong Nai province is packaging sour shrimp paste. Photo: B.Nguyen

Not only do they have many fresh specialties, capturing the high demand for enjoying local specialties in urban areas, some establishments in the district make local specialties, building their brands with quality reputation to supply to the market.

Enjoy country specialties

Despite strong urban development, Nhon Trach still has localities with strengths in livestock and crop development.

Nhon Trach is located next to major cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Vung Tau City, Bien Hoa City, so this is a meeting place that attracts many diners from these urban areas to enjoy countryside specialties.

Phuoc Khanh, Phu Dong and Phuoc An communes are riverside localities with many rice fields and a river system with many long canals and ditches, so they can develop the profession of raising ducks for eggs.

Ducks in these localities are raised in fields and canals. In addition to rice and corn, ducks' food sources are supplemented with natural foods such as fish, shrimp, snails, mussels, duckweed, etc.

Nhon Trach duck eggs have large, dark-colored yolks, are delicious and rich in nutrients, so they have long been famous as a specialty favored by the market.

Nhon Trach duck eggs are sought after by consumers in large urban areas for use or as gifts, so they are often sold at higher prices than the general market price, but supply still cannot meet demand.

Dai Hiep countryside grilled duck specialty in Hiep Phuoc town, Nhon Trach district, Dong Nai province.

In addition to raising laying ducks, this locality is also famous for its free-range ducks with delicious meat quality. Dai Hiep Countryside Grilled Duck Restaurant in Hiep Phuoc town has been on the market for more than 20 years.

This rustic grilled duck restaurant only serves grilled duck and stir-fried offal, but it is always bustling with customers. The duck is grilled by the owner himself using charcoal in the traditional way right in front of the restaurant.

According to the owner of Dai Hiep restaurant, the secret to making a delicious, first-impressive grilled duck dish is to choose a good duck. The ducks at the restaurant are free-range ducks, and must be large enough to make a delicious grilled dish with chewy but not stringy meat.

To achieve the best freshness, the chef leaves the fresh duck grilled on charcoal without marinating it first. The marinade is the restaurant's secret and is continuously applied throughout the grilling process.

The person grilling the duck must have experience in adjusting the heat of the charcoal stove to the right level so that the duck meat cooks slowly, absorbs the spices, and retains the sweetness of the meat. The grilled duck is dipped in homemade lemongrass sauce, the salt is not too salty and has a fragrant lemongrass flavor, making the meat and rice dish even more appealing.

Therefore, not only locals, this country duck grill restaurant is also a meeting place that attracts many diners in big cities, especially tourist groups traveling to Vung Tau passing through this locality all stop by to enjoy.

On weekdays, the shop sells 50 fish/day, starting at noon but sometimes they sell out in just a few hours. On weekends and holidays, the shop sells 80-100 fish/day.

Nhon Trach also has many specialty shops selling chicken, also known as chicken. Customers can go to the garden and choose a free-range chicken.

At that time, the restaurant owner processed it into many delicious dishes such as steamed chicken, grilled chicken... Among them, the most unique dish is the chicken salad with sweet potato leaves. The young, fresh green sweet potato leaves are mixed into the salad, the vegetables absorb the spices but still retain their cool, crispy, and fresh taste.

Thanks to its geographical location and natural resources rich in river products, Nhon Trach district is attracting strong development of eco-tourism models. The whole district currently has 8 business locations of amusement parks and eco-tourism, attracting over 20 thousand visitors annually.

Famous Nhon Trach sour shrimp

Nhon Trach is also blessed with a large brackish water area, so there are many brackish water specialties such as: shrimp, crab, octopus, carp and brown fish, mullet, catfish...

Nowadays, these local delicacies have become tourist specialties that attract visitors.

Diners coming to the fertile land of Nhon Trach not only enjoy fresh seafood dishes but also choose many processed specialties to bring back as gifts.

Processed dishes can be listed as: dried shrimp, dried shrimp, dried brown fish... Among them, the most special is sour shrimp paste made from natural shrimp.

In Nhon Trach, there are several establishments making this specialty dish, but the most famous is Mrs. Tam's sour shrimp paste in Phuoc An commune.

On average, this facility supplies thousands of jars of fish sauce to the market each year. In addition to selling to local people, the facility's regular customers are mainly residents of big cities who want to enjoy their hometown specialties.

Sour shrimp - a countryside specialty in Phuoc An commune, Nhon Trach district, Dong Nai province.

To make delicious sour shrimp paste, the maker must choose fresh, live, natural shrimp, wash them, soak them in wine, drain them, then marinate them with garlic, chili, fish sauce, and sugar.

Each establishment has its own secret recipe for cooking fish sauce with the right amount of saltiness and sweetness to suit the taste of many diners. Usually, the shrimp can be used after about a month of soaking.

According to Ms. Phan Thi Thai, owner of Ba Tam sour shrimp facility, in the past, sour shrimp was only made for family consumption, and during Tet, extra was made to sell to neighbors.

In the past, when making it for restaurants, people often left the shrimp heads on. Later, diners from urban areas really liked this specialty, so she made it all year round to sell. The preparation method has changed a bit, the shrimp heads are removed, and the sugar water is adjusted to be salty or sweet depending on the taste of most diners.

Ms. Phan Thi Thai shared that her family's secret to making this sour shrimp paste dish has been passed down through many generations.

Her business has been selling for over 20 years. She is currently applying for OCOP certification (One Commune One Product) for this specialty to widely introduce it to diners across the country.

Source: https://danviet.vn/nhon-trach-se-la-thanh-pho-tre-nhat-dong-nai-sao-o-day-he-ra-khoi-ngo-dung-ngay-dac-san-dong-que-20240921002837806.htm