DA NANG – Locals use herring caught in Nam O fishing village to make a wet fish salad and dried fish salad, a specialty not to be missed when coming to Da Nang.
Dish fish salad Nam O are named according to where the source of food is the Nam O fishing village with hundreds of years old, is situated at the mouth of the Cu De River, at the foot of the Hai Van Pass in Lien Chieu District, Da Nang City. About 15 km from the city center, visitors traveling along National Highway 1A south-north to the area of Nam O fishing village can stop to enjoy this famous fish salad.
In the past, Nam O fish salad was only for beachgoers in Da Nang, the people of the fishing village made it themselves and used it in their families together. Later, the dish was commercialized and became a specialty with two types of wet salad and dry salad. Fish to make salad can use sardines, carp, anchovies … but the most suitable is still herring with sweet, firm meat. Herring in Nam O sea is available all year round and is caught fresh every day. Herring, the size of 2 fingers, is cleaned, head removed, fillet cut into small pieces.
With dried fish salad, herring meat after fillet is re-cooked with vinegar and lemon, then squeezed and drained before mixing with hearing and spices. The fish juice is boiled, adding the delicious fish sauce of Nam O fishing village, adding chili powder, tapioca starch, and monosodium glutamate, pounded peanuts to have a thick, sweet, and sour sauce that is very easy to eat. . The meat, after being drained, is mixed with hot and spicy spices such as chili and ginger to eliminate the fishy smell and mixed with hearing to have an eye-catching color, a little roasted sesame to bring up the aroma of the salad.
Wet salad is also processed similarly to dry salad, but fish meat is not mixed with hearing but mixed with spicy broth made from the delicious fish sauce of Nam O fishing village, little ginger, garlic, chili, and garlic. sugar to soften the taste. Herring has sweet and cool meat, when mixed with spicy broth, the more it penetrates into each fiber of the meat.
The dish is simply enjoyed with grilled rice paper and raw vegetables. In addition to common vegetables such as lettuce, bean sprouts, and grated banana, the people of Nam O also use wild vegetables such as a brooch, gloves, etc., accompanied by fruits such as wild bananas, raw mangoes, and cucumbers. , star fruit… sliced thin.
When eating, diners put fish salad and broth in a cup, then put grilled rice paper, raw vegetables of all kinds, mix well and enjoy. The sweetness of herring meat, the rich spicy broth with the aroma of galangal and chili, the green banana pieces, the sour mango star fruit, the sweet crunchy taste of the vegetables blend together to create an impressive dish of Da Thanh land.
