Goi ca mai (Mai fish salad)

Vung Tau is not home to Mai fish salad but when talking about Vung Tau cuisine, people can't not remember about this dish. And Mai fish salad becomes one of the most attractive dishes in Vung Tau. 

Mai fish is quite like anchovies, white body, small less fishy so that people often use it to make salad. For locals, the best goi ca mai is when selecting the freshest alive Mai fish – the fresher it is, the more delicious the salad will be.

After being caught, Mai fish will be shaved off all flakes. It need to be boneless to be very absorptive marinated.

 

The ingredients to marinate are quite simple such as vinegar, garlic, lemon and chili. When fish is medium-rare, it will be mixed with some “bột thính” (a kind of brown rice flavor), peanuts to raise the smell.

This salad is served with fresh vegetables and rice papers. The sauce of this dish includes garlic, minced chili, sugar, lemon, vinegar, fish sauce, crushed peanuts, soda or shrimp sauce.

 

Pick up a handful of salad and some vegetables to a thin rice paper, roll up, dip into sauce, diners will feel the unique taste, along with fish’s sweetness is sauce’s light salty, spicy chili, sour lime, fat taste of roasted peanuts and rice paper.

Although the ingredients seem simple, making a delicious sauce or not is all about the art.

See more

  • Grilled fish in Ba Be Lake

    Ba Be lake is the largest fresh water in Vietnam so it provides a huge source of fresh fish. And grilled fish is the most famous dish and become a specialty of  Ba Be...

  • Cap Nach Pigs

    At the fair of Lao Cai, you can easily see local people selling small pigs whose weight is less than 20kg so that people can put into the baskets, even put in the armpits....

  • Tasty Grilled Abalone in Phu Quoc

    In many types of seafood as crab, clam, snail, shellfish, oyster is the best nutrition seafood that you should try in Phu Quoc by the sweeter and fragrant taste of...

  • Goat Meat

    Traveling far and double-quick with poetic and fascinating landscapes in Ninh Binh without enjoying speciality of Ninh Binh goat meat is synonymous that you have not yet...

  • Bun Ca

    Thanks to the complex river and canal, Mekong Delta has various fishes which is the main material in bun ca, the most favourite food in Mekong Delta. Bun ca in Mekong...

  • Bun Cha Hanoi

    One of the iconic dishes in Hanoi , Bun Cha is one of our favourite of all street foods in Vietnam. It’s got two types of pork, a smoking hot grill, a tangy fish sauce...

  • Banh trang nuong

    Banh trang nuong is a famous snack in Dalat that you should not miss when traveling to Dalat. The hot cake not only helps people dispel the cold in a Dalat’s night...

  • Top 5 Coffee Shops in Hanoi

    For a long time, drinking coffee has become an indispensable habit of Vietnamese people. Coffee is considered the culinary culture of Vietnam. Here are top 5 best Coffee...

  • The street foods under 10000 VND

    Hanoi - especially the food - centric ones - notice the constant presence of edible stuff on their strolls around the Old Quarter and further afield. Street - side meat,...

  • Banh canh cha ca

    Banh canh cha ca is famous in Trang Bang, Nha Trang, Phan Thiet but the taste of this dish in Phan Thiet is the most special and delicious. 

Most popular tours

Business info

  • Vietnam Local Guide

  • Address: 18th Floor, VTC Online Tower, 18 Tam Trinh Str.,Hai Ba Trung Dist., Hanoi, Vietnam
  • Email: info@vietnamguider.com
  • Phone: (+84) 0904989890
  • Hotline: (+84) 0904989890