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

  • Bien Mai Scallop

    The unique feature of the dishes from Bien Mai Scallop is the combination between fresh coi bien mai and spices with the method of cooking that make it become very famous....

  • Tiet Canh Tom Hum (Lobster blood)

    Vung Tau has a long coastline with 5 beaches so seafood is very diversified as shrimp, crab, snail, lobster, sand crab, fish, etc. One of the most famous food related to...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • Tarpon Hotpot (Lau ca khoai)

    Quang Binh cuisine has been well-known for a long time throughout the country by the delicious and rustic food. And tarpon hotpot has satisfied the most discerning...

  • Cong Cake

    Cong Cake is a rustic and simple cake which is cheap but very delicious. If you have a chance to try cong cake once time, you can’t forget the taste of this cake. 

  • Fructus Crataegi Wine

    Fructus Crataegi wine is unique wine. Fructus Crataegi is soaked very carefully and then they use this water from Fructus Crataegi to make wine. Drinking wine feel like...

  • Lau ca duoi (Sawfish hot pot)

    Sawfish hot pot has been considered as a famous specialty and represented for Vung Tau cuisine. Sawfish is very delicious and strange that makes tourist can’t forget if...

  • Hu tieu Nam Vang

    Hu Tieu Nam Vang, Vietnam rice noodle with pork and seafood is one of the very popular street food dishes in Vietnam, especially in the south. With the great taste of...

  • Western food in Halong Bay

    Similar to any other famous tourism cities in the world, besides its delicious local specialties Ha Long has a wide range of Western cuisine dishes to serve the increasing...

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