In order to enjoy the “right” way to enjoy sam sam and sam sam, diners eat small pieces, dip a little sour star fruit, herbs, and add hot crispy waffles into a bowl of thick, flavorful soup.
In Ha Long, there are two types of sam food, one is to go to a restaurant to order “all dishes” with prices ranging from 1.3 to 1.8 million VND/pair. Second, if you want to integrate “Ha Long culture”, locals suggest visitors to Ha Long market lane 1, after 16:00.
Here, a snack shop selling sam sam and sam sam is small but has been around for more than 30 years. No shops, no signs, just a table, two bins of ingredients and a few plastic chairs that are always full.
Every day, Ms. Thu’s sidewalk shop is open for sale from 16:00 until sold out. In the past, Ms. Thu’s shop used to sell to locals, small traders in Ha Long market 1. Later, the shop served about 40% of tourists.
Ha Long people call cha sam and sam sam at this restaurant as a luxury afternoon snack. A small bowl (bowl containing fish sauce) sam sam, sam’s feet cost 50,000 VND/bowl. According to the sharing of many diners, they often eat 2-3 bowls to feel the taste.
The way to eat sam is quite special, diners leisurely eat small pieces, dip a little sour star fruit, herbs, dip hot and crispy waffles in a sweet and sour dipping sauce, or a bowl of spicy and fragrant sam’s foot soup.
“Sam legs are often fried sweet and sour, this is also the best way to prepare them. People will suck the meat from the legs to enjoy the most original flavor,” said Ms. Thu, the owner of the restaurant.
According to Mr. Phan Canh, a Ha Long diner: The special feature that makes Sam and Thu’s restaurant more famous is the way to make “divine” dipping sauce made from sea sam. Sam’s feet and sausages are cooked with a thick, spicy sauce that no restaurant can “match”.
“The taste of pangolin on the tip of the tongue and enough salty and sweet taste in the mouth makes people want to eat forever,” Canh said.
To enjoy the bowl of cha sam, sam sam at this restaurant, diners must arrive early, between 16-18h, queue for 20 to 30 minutes to take their turn. Thu’s shop is quite small and crowded, so there are usually not many seats.
Sam is a creature with 6 legs and 4 eyes, living mainly in coastal areas with high tide. Sams usually live in pairs and can only be found during the season. Sam spawns from about April to August, this is also the time when sam meat is popular with diners when traveling to Quang Ninh.
On average, in the spring season, each pair is sold 700,000 VND – 1 million VND. Many years of scarcity, sam is sold up to 1.5 million VND/pair. ($1=24,000 VND)
Photo: Internet (Vinlove.net)