When visiting Bien Hoa, you must definitely eat elephant ear fish salad with the famous unique meat sauce. There is a restaurant that has been passed down from mother to son for over 30 years and has never been empty of customers.

If you have the opportunity to visit Bien Hoa City, Tan Mai fish salad is a dish that you should not miss, because this is a special flavor of this land. With a family secret, fresh river fish are processed into an attractive salad dish, conquering even the most demanding diners.

Special elephant ear fish salad, served with famous meat sauce

In Bien Hoa City, elephant ear fish salad is so famous that diners from many other places also come here to enjoy it. Along the Dong Nai River in Tan Mai, Tam Hiep, Thong Nhat wards, there are hundreds of fish rafts of households. From fish farming, fishermen have processed many different fish dishes, but the most famous is fish salad. It can be said that this fish salad was imported from the river delta of the West, but is processed in a different way to create a very unique delicious flavor.

A portion of elephant ear fish salad in Bien Hoa.

That's why there are many fish salad shops around here. But many people still call it "Tan Mai fish salad" because Tan Mai has many delicious fish salad shops that are loved by customers. We chose to visit Kim Yen restaurant to enjoy the famous elephant ear fish salad in Bien Hoa City. At noon on the weekend, there were quite a lot of customers, the restaurant was almost full, cars and motorbikes were parked tightly. And of course, we definitely had to try the famous fish salad here.

Kim Yen fish salad restaurant is a delicious place to eat fish salad in Bien Hoa.

Unlike other types of fish salad, the fish salad here is made from thinly sliced ​​elephant ear fish mixed with rice bran, galangal, and lemongrass. But the most unique thing is the pot of hot sauce placed on the stove. This sauce is a combination of many ingredients such as minced meat, pork liver, fish fat, fermented rice, shrimp paste, tomatoes, galangal, lemongrass, shallots... cooked for many hours. All of this creates an attractive, thick, golden brown sauce.

The elephant ear fish pieces are thinly sliced ​​and mixed with rice powder, galangal, and lemongrass.

The meat sauce makes the difference of fish salad in Bien Hoa.

When eating, you can directly eat these golden-brown pieces of raw fish mixed with raw vegetables and add a little sauce. Or if you don't want to eat them raw, just dip the fish into the sauce that is always simmering hot on the stove. Each way of eating has its own interesting features, and most importantly, they are all delicious.

When eating, you can eat it raw or dip the fish in the sauce and enjoy it with vegetables.

The firm meat of the elephant ear fish, with the aroma of rice bran, galangal, and lemongrass combined with the rich and slightly sour meat sauce from the rice vinegar, will definitely be a delicious experience. What makes this dish so appealing is the raw vegetables. The raw vegetables here are very diverse with betel leaves, chrysanthemum leaves (also known as dai bi leaves), perilla leaves, ginseng, perilla, fish mint, basil... bringing a harmony of flavors such as bitter, spicy, sour, and astringent. In addition, when eating, you can also scoop the fish onto rice paper, pour the sauce on top and enjoy.

It can be said that the elephant ear fish salad in Bien Hoa is both liberal and generous, and also sophisticated and meticulous, creating a unique mark of this land.

Fish salad restaurant that has been open for over 30 years "passed down from mother to daughter" has never been empty of customers

Up to now, Kim Yen fish salad restaurant has been in business for more than 30 years. It is known that the restaurant is currently managed by Mr. De and his siblings. Previously, the restaurant was run by Mr. De's mother and his mother was also the one who invented the restaurant's signature sauce.

At noon, Kim Yen is crowded with customers.

The fish salad dish looks simple but is also very elaborate. Right from the stage of choosing the fish, it is necessary to be careful. At Kim Yen, the elephant ear fish used to serve customers are usually large fish, about 2 - 3kg/fish. The fish are always fresh that day, still alive when brought to shore, to ensure that the fish meat remains fresh and delicious when processed.

When customers order, the restaurant will remove the bones and fillet the fish. To be able to slice the fish into thin and even pieces, the chef must have extremely skillful knife skills, so that he can both slice the fish and remove the outer layer of skin. The finished product is thin pieces of fish meat, without broken or mixed with small bones.

The fish pieces are dipped in the sauce to create a special fatty aroma.

Talking about fish salad, in addition to using elephant ear fish, you can replace it with other types of fish such as red tilapia or carp. However, the best is still elephant ear fish. Because the meat of elephant ear fish is firm and crispy. To have a large elephant ear fish, people have to raise it for up to two years, while other types of fish only need to be raised for about half a year to a year.

Each portion of fish salad here costs 150,000 VND and includes 200 grams of fish. If customers buy more, the restaurant sells it for 700,000 VND/kg of fish. Besides fish salad, other dishes at Kim Yen restaurant are also highly appreciated for their quality. We ordered eel porridge, which seemed like a moderate bowl of porridge, but when it was brought out, it was a large pot of porridge with lots of eels inside. Such a delicious pot of eel porridge only costs 100,000 VND.

A full pot of quality eel porridge costs 100,000 VND.

Ms. Bich Thuy, a customer from Ho Chi Minh City, shared: "Every month, my family comes here to eat fish salad. My whole family can eat this dish. My husband likes to eat it raw, while my children and I will dip the fish in the sauce to cook it. I also like the other dishes at the restaurant because they are filling and delicious."

Not possessing seafood resources from the sea, nor the colors of the garden or the river delta, Bien Hoa still has things that make people want to visit and come back. If you have the opportunity to visit Bien Hoa for a change, surely the elephant ear fish salad will be an option for those who love regional cuisine .

Source: https://toquoc.vn/ve-bien-hoa-choi-nhat-dinh-phai-an-goi-ca-tai-tuong-voi-nuoc-saut-thit-doc-dao-tru-danh-co-quan-me-truyen-con-noi-ban-hon-30-nam-chua-tung-vang-khach-20240821082916126.htm