Tourists traveling to Cat Ba Island, in addition to swimming, enjoying the natural scenery, breathing the fresh air, and savoring seafood specialties, should also take time to enjoy these activities during the trip. Cat Ba Island has many famous, delicious dishes made from seafood, such as lobster, red snapper, grouper, cobia, sea snake, geoduck, and horseshoe crab, as well as many dishes with the flavor of the sea, such as jellyfish salad and grilled geoduck. It will be a memorable experience sitting on a boat, sipping a glass of beeswax wine with a dish of steamed grouper with Cat Hai fish sauce; it is wonderful.
Below are delicious dishes, specialties that tourists often choose when coming here.
Horseshoe crab
Horseshoe crab – a type of seafood from the ocean- is a delicious dish not to be missed when coming to the Cat Ba tourist destination. Horseshoe crabs can be prepared in many ways, such as soup, salad, or sweet-and-sour stir-fry, with grilled horseshoe crabs being the most popular with diners.
The horseshoe crab has a hard shell like a crab’s, a flat, round body, and a diameter of about a handspan. The female usually weighs about 1 kg, while the male weighs only about 500 grams. To catch horseshoe crabs, fishermen must calculate the tide and set a date to go to sea.
The horseshoe crab is marinated with spices, mixed well, then placed on a grill and turned evenly until its body turns yellow and smells fragrant, after which it can be enjoyed. People often enjoy grilled horseshoe crabs with separated sour grapefruit, pickled radish, herbs, crushed roasted peanuts, fish sauce, garlic, chili, fried onions, etc.
Cat Ba crab spring rolls
Cat Ba crab spring rolls are wrapped in large, square packages the size of a hand. With a special shape that creates a unique feature for crab spring rolls and rice paper rolls, they require toughness rather than brittleness, and when fried, they must not break. When eaten, the spring roll skin is golden, crispy, and fragrant.
Cat Ba crabs chosen to make nem must have roe, a thick body, and weigh 0.6-0.8 kg each. Crab spring rolls cannot lack the important ingredients that make up this dish: shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, pork shoulder lean, egg yolk, green onions, vermicelli, bean sprouts… and spices marinated during the processing. With crab spring rolls, crab meat plays a decisive role and is considered the main ingredient of the dish.
Geoduck
Geoduck, also known as the elephant trunk snail, is one of Cat Ba’s most famous specialties. This type of seafood has a long, slender body and lives mainly in clear blue waters, where nutrients are abundant. Steamed geoduck is prepared simply but retains its fresh flavor.
When steamed, geoduck meat becomes sweet and crunchy, making it very suitable for dipping in ginger fish sauce or lemon pepper salt. In addition, geoducks can be prepared in many other ways, such as grilled with scallions, in salads, or as porridge; each dish offers a unique, nutritious flavor.
Sea snake
Sea snake dishes can make many people apprehensive, but this is actually a rare specialty in Cat Ba that not everyone gets to enjoy. Sea snakes are often processed into crispy fried snake dishes with a crispy outer shell and firm, chewy meat inside.
In particular, sea snake blood is believed to have medicinal properties and is often mixed with wine to enhance the flavor. To enjoy this dish properly, you should go to seafood restaurants to fully experience the unique flavor of sea snakes.
Red snapper, cobia
Red snapper and cobia are two outstanding specialties of Cat Ba sea. Red snapper is often prepared as sweet-and-sour grilled dishes or a delicious fresh fish salad, bringing a perfect balance of the fish’s sweetness and the spices’ slight sourness.
Meanwhile, cobia is very suitable for hot pot or steamed with fresh vegetables. Each piece of fish captures the fresh taste of the ocean, making it unforgettable for anyone who has tried it.
Shrimp vermicelli
Cat Ba shrimp vermicelli is one of the typical dishes that tourists cannot miss. This vermicelli dish is made with fresh shrimp just caught, along with herbs, creating a colorful and nutritious meal. The broth for shrimp vermicelli is simmered from pork bones and shrimp shells, imparting a natural sweetness.
When enjoying, you will feel the perfect harmony between the ingredients, from the sweetness of the shrimp to the fatty aroma, all creating an unforgettable culinary experience.
Through this article, we have discovered together the attractions of Cat Ba specialties. Why hesitate to plan a trip to the island to enjoy delicious dishes and explore the wild beauty of this place?
Source: collected by An
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