Herring fillet is soft, fresh, sweet and not fishy mixed with onions and grated coconut to create a unique highlight for island specialties.
Around July and August of the lunar calendar, when the southwest wind blows to the mainland, Phu Quoc fishermen have their biggest herring harvest of the year. To catch herring, fishermen have to get on the boat and take the basket boat far from shore early in the morning. About 10 km from shore, fishermen got into basket boats and cast nets to surround the area. By around 8:00 a.m. or 9:00 a.m., the boat was full of fresh fish brought back to shore.
Herring meat is delicious and healthy, so it can be processed into many delicious dishes such as grilled with lolot leaves, fried, cooked in sour soup, braised, made in tomato sauce, made into rolls… but the most prominent is still salad. According to Phu Quoc people, herring salad at Khem beach is the most delicious.
As a rustic dish, herring salad requires meticulous preparation. The cook must choose fresh fish, so that the meat is fragrant, sweet and fatty, and less fishy. After that, the fish is cleaned of scales, intestines, head, fins, and tail. The cook uses a thin knife to remove the bones and take the meat from both sides.
Ingredients include thinly sliced onions, shredded carrots, grated coconut, fried minced garlic and coriander… All mixed well with herring and sour sauce. The special feature of herring salad is that the sauce is not made from lemon juice but is mixed with vinegar grown with ripe guava fruit, seasoned with a little salt and sugar to give the dish a sour taste and a mild aroma.
A delicious herring salad is indispensable for a bowl of dipping sauce made from minced garlic and chili, roasted and peeled peanuts, mixed with delicious Phu Quoc fish sauce, and a little sugar, lemon…
When enjoying, diners take a thin piece of rice paper and add raw vegetables, cucumber, and fish salad, then roll it up firmly and dip it with sweet and sour dipping sauce. The fresh taste of fatty herring meat with grated coconut, the scent of herbs mixed with the rich spicy dipping sauce will make diners remember it forever after experiencing it.
