Top 11 specialties not to be missed when travelling to Ninh Thuan

Travelling to Ninh Thuan Province (South Central Coast of Vietnam), visitors will be surprised with the rich culinary world, including fresh seafood dishes, tasty jellyfish vermicelli, refreshing white sardine salad…

Below are attractive dishes in Ninh Thuan that tourists cannot miss when arriving in this sunny and windy land.

Jellyfish vermicelli

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Jellyfish vermicelli is a popular dish but is loved by many diners. A bowl of jellyfish vermicelli includes fresh jellyfish, fish cakes, quail eggs, vermicelli, fried shallots, and a rich broth, creating a harmony when enjoying. When eating, diners can add a little satay, shrimp paste, and raw vegetables to enhance the flavour.

Butterfly lizards

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Butterfly lizards is a reptile that lives in caves, and has long been a famous Ninh Thuan specialty. Butterfly lizard meat can be processed into many different dishes, of which grilled butterfly lizard meat is the most popular.

The meat is cleaned, marinated with spices and then grilled over charcoal. Grilled golden meat, tender, sweet meat, dipped with a little salt and chilli, served with green vegetables and bananas to help stimulate the taste buds of diners.

Lamb, goat meat

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Ninh Thuan has an ideal climate and environment for raising goats and sheep. Sheep fields of An Hoa, An Nhon, Phuoc Nhon, Suoi Tien... are places where the largest flocks of sheep in the country. Sheep here are raised mainly for meat, not for wool. Sheep's food is all grass, so the meat has a naturally sweet aroma. Diverse dishes made from Ninh Thuan goat and lamb meat have their own unique flavours, appealing to diners.

Phan Rang fermented fish sauce noodle soup

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One of the must-try dishes when travelling to Ninh Thuan is Phan Rang fermented fish sauce noodles. This dish is made from easy-to-find ingredients, including vermicelli, boiled meat, fish cakes, eggplant, minced mango and raw vegetables.

The soul of the dish is the fermented sauce that has a salty, sour taste, mixed with a little sweetness. Fermented sauce is made from clean, pre-processed anchovies, sealed with salt in ceramic jars and jars for 20 - 60 days. When enjoying, diners mix the sauce with other ingredients to absorb the spices, and feel an exploding special flavour.

Phan Rang chicken rice

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Coming to Phan Rang, Ninh Thuan, visitors should try once to enjoy the famous chicken rice. The chicken is free range, the meat is firm, chewy, and sweet. The rice is cooked from sticky rice and chicken broth, creating a rich, aromatic flavour.

Eating chicken rice, sprinkled with fish sauce mixed with garlic, chilli, sugar, and lemon makes it even more delicious, satisfying the taste buds and creating unforgettable memories.

Fish cake thick noodle soup

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Fish cake thick noodle soup is not only loved by Ninh Thuan people, but also tourists. A bowl will include soft, chewy noodle soup made from fine white rice flour, plus fried fish cakes and steamed fish cakes. Finally, add transparent broth, cooked from fresh sea fish.

It sounds simple, but all of the above ingredients, when combined together, create an attractive flavour.

White sardine salad

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White sardine salad is a unique feature in the cuisine of Ninh Thuan. This dish uses the main ingredient of white sardine fish, a small, slender, silver-white fish.

Fresh white sardine is cleaned, the head and tail, bones are removed, only the meat is soaked in cold water. Next, the fish meat is lightly cooked with lemon until it turns opaque white.

Finally, squeeze dry to mix the salad with peanuts, star fruit, sliced ginger, thinly sliced onions... with the prepared chilli mixture. This dish has a sweet, sour, spicy taste when combined with many different ingredients, tastes cool, and is very suitable in hot weather.

Phan Rang crispy pancakes and mini pancakes

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Ninh Thuan crispy pancakes and mini pancakes score points thanks to the delicate combination of ingredients, bringing a delicious, unique flavour. The greasy cakes have a crispy crust, the filling is filled with shrimp, squid, pork, crispy fried pork skin, anchovies, eggs... so fragrant.

The interesting thing is that crispy pancakes and mini pancakes in Ninh Thuan have up to 4 types of dipping sauces for diners to choose from. These are peanut fish sauce, seasoning fish sauce, tomato chilli fish sauce and braised fish sauce. However, fermented fish sauce is the most commonly chosen type.

Fermented shrimp sauce rice paper

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Fermented shrimp sauce rice paper is a popular street food that is praised for its deliciousness. What makes this popular gift delicious is the stir-fried shrimp paste, rich in flavour but not strong in smell.

Brush shrimp paste onto rice paper, add eggs, shrimp,  cha lua (Vietnamese steamed pork sausage), sausages, green onions... according to diners' needs and then grill over charcoal until the crust is crispy.

Fresh seafood

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As a strip of land with a long coastline, Ninh Thuan is favoured by nature with many rich seafood species. Coming here, visitors will enjoy fresh seafood dishes, caught every day, right in Ninh Thuan waters.

Squid, blue crab, clams, cobia, oysters... are processed into dishes with irresistible flavours.

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