Herring salad, a seemingly simple name, yet it evokes fond memories for those who have tasted it. It's a world of sounds and aromas, a delicate blend of locally sourced herbs and spices, a culinary masterpiece perfected by generations of Phu Quoc residents.
Herring salad is now available in many upscale restaurants, but if you ever try it in Phu Quoc, food connoisseurs will feel the difference right from the sea where it originated.
First, there's the dipping sauce. While it still has the same sour, spicy, and sweet flavor, the dipping sauce for authentic Phu Quoc herring salad always has a very unique taste.
According to the elders here, the sourness in the dipping sauce doesn't come from lemon, tamarind, or star fruit, but from another specialty of Phu Quoc Island: fermented shrimp. After pounding and straining the shrimp, finely chopped garlic, chili peppers, and granulated sugar are added, along with roasted peanuts (with their shells slightly charred) that are then pounded into a thick, viscous sauce to help the sauce cling to the spring rolls, creating a rich and savory flavor.
Freshly caught herring, after being cleaned and filleted, is marinated in lemon juice until lightly cooked, then drained before being arranged on a plate. The lemon juice used to lightly cook the herring is also meticulously prepared. The lemons must be peeled, the seeds removed, and the segments separated before being mashed. This process eliminates the bitterness of the peel and gives it the perfect sour taste. The liquid used to soften the rice paper for the spring rolls is also unique. It's made from grated coconut, resulting in rice paper that is both chewy and has a rich, creamy flavor.
And as the old saying goes: "The fish causes trouble for the vegetables." Authentic Phu Quoc-style herring salad must have the right accompanying vegetables. Cucumber sliced lengthwise, pineapple sliced crosswise to leave some of the crunchy pulp attached, then herbs, chives, young shoots of the wild fig tree… and especially, thinly grated grated coconut. A little of each is placed on a rice paper wrapper, then the lightly cooked herring is added, and rolled up into a bite-sized roll. Dip the roll into the thick dipping sauce… Oh my, the whole world of sounds, flavors, and colors seems to converge here. The crispness of the raw vegetables, mixed with the richness of the grated coconut, the tender, fragrant fish, and the taste of peanuts, creates a symphony of sour, spicy, sweet, fatty, and nutty flavors that are utterly delightful.
Heritage Magazine
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