Savouring flavors of Phu Quoc culinary paradise

Known as a pearl island in the southwestern region of the country, Phu Quoc is blessed with mountains, rivers, streams, forests and sea.

Coming to Phu Quoc Island, in addition to swimming, diving to admire the splendid coral reefs, enjoying unique sports and entertainment activities, visitors also taste local specialties, especially delicious dishes from fresh seafood. They must savour seafood dishes including crab of Ham Ninh Village, herring salad and echinus to fully enjoy the sea flavor of Phu Quoc Island.

Crab of Ham Ninh Village

Ham Ninh fishing village is home to fresh seafood dishes with a reasonable price, especially famous for crab of Ham Ninh which is always fresh, thick, sweet and fragrant. The crab of Ham Ninh is used to cook numerous delicious dishes as simple as steaming, boiling with salt, pepper, lemon or spicy and sour hot pot with green vegetables, that everyone loves.

Herring salad

Along with Ham Ninh crab, herring salad becomes an indispensable dish in every seafood party in Phu Quoc. Fresh herring will be cleaned, then dipped in lemon juice, mixed with shredded coconut, sliced purple onion. Herring salad is rolled with rice paper, vegetables, dipped with fish sauce. This dish is especially the most flavorful when tasted with Phu Quoc myrtle wine.

Echinus of Phu Quoc

Another must-try specialty is echinus, also known as sea urchin, the most favorite seafood dish in Phu Quoc’s food markets. Sea urchin is likened to the ginseng of the sea thanks to its healthful nutrition. There are various ways to cook echinus such as grilled with fragrant onion and fat, dipped in lemon juice for sweet and fatty taste, or cooked with porridge.

“Bún Quậy” (Stirring Vermicelli) of Phu Quoc

This is a unique dish only available in the pearl island of Phu Quoc. Visitors do not only taste the flavor of the dish, but they can also enjoy the simple and generous life of local people.

Visitors will surely remember forever this special noodle dish with vermicelli made from fresh rice, served with “toppings” such as fresh squid, grilled chopped fish, shrimp cakes, beef and especially self-made sauce flavor. Local people often drink cool sugarcane juice when tasting this dish as a subtle tip to balance with the characteristic warm spicy flavor.

Some local specialties

Phu Quoc Island has a very interesting and unique food scene with local specialties that are also well known outside of Phu Quoc, such as green pepper, Phu Quoc fish sauce, Sim wine (Myrtle wine), Melaleuca mushroom.

Phu Quoc green pepper is famous for its aromatic, pungent and especially stronger flavor than many types of pepper from other regions.

Besides pepper, Phu Quoc fish sauce is not only a dish but also considered a cultural symbol of Phu Quoc. Not only Vietnamese tourists but also foreign tourists are also attracted by Phu Quoc fish sauce. After each visit to the fish sauce factory on Phu Quoc Island, there is no visitor who does not buy Phu Quoc fish sauce as a gift. In particular, the profession of making fish sauce in Phu Quoc has been included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in May 2021.

Another famous must-buy specialty of Phu Quoc is Sim wine. The wine is made from fermented myrtle fruit, so it has an extremely special taste, a bit acrid at the tongue but sweet in the throat. Anyone who has ever tasted this wonderful wine will surely never forget its flavor.

Coming to Phu Quoc, visitors should not miss the opportunity to taste Melaleuca mushroom, a special mushroom of the pearl island.

In addition, walking around Phu Quoc night market and tasting delicious dishes such as crab rice, grilled sirloin with salt and pepper, fish, squid, snails, scallops, or hot seafood porridge, etc are exciting experiences!

Let’s go to Phu Quoc to explore the diverse culture and cuisine here!

Tourism Information Technology Center