Bun mam

Dried noodle with anchovy fish sauce - Bún mắm

Bun mam is made out of vermicelli, pork or roasted pork, vegetables, unripe jackfruit, roasted peanuts and, of course, anchovy fish sauce.

To me, Bun mam:

- is the simplest yet most addictive dish of Danang

- has been haunting me during my four years in Japan

- was what I ate every morning every time I went back to Vietnam on university vacations

- is what I am eating while writing this post (home-made)

As the name suggests, the exquisiteness of this dish depends mostly on its anchovy fish sauce. Originally Bun mam is accompanied with boiled pork, and other alternatives include roasted pork (my favourite) or nem chua (fermented pork roll). Of course it can't go without the special chilli jam which is a trademark of the central region. It is very easy to make a bowl of Bun mam, but not as easy to make a good one.

With roasted pork and cha

With roasted pork and nem chua

Chilli sauce

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Where: Quan 110 - 110 Huynh Thuc Khang 

How much: 25,000VND as of Dec 19, 2011

When: Morning

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Mam nem

Anchovy fish sauce - Mắm nêm

Before introducing other dishes of Danang, I feel the urge to write a post about this very special kind of fish sauce that plays a significant role on Danang cuisine - Mam nem.

Mam nem, alternatively mam cai, is a very unique local sauce of the central region. It is made from fermented anchovy sauce (cá cơm), pineapple, garlic and chilli; and is widely used to accompany many kinds of food. It has a very strong scent which for the first times may be uncomfortable to smell, but once you get used to it, this is the kind of fish sauce that you will get addicted to. During my 4 years in Japan, it is its smell and taste that haunted me day after day.

In Danang, Mam nem is used together with many dishes such as “Banh trang cuon thit heo”, “Bun mam” and other traditional dishes. Mam nem is the "hate it or love it" sauce, but as it is so special and unique, why not take a risk and discover one massive feature of Danang cuisine!

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Mi Quang

Mì Quảng tôm thịt trứng - Mi Quang with pork and shrimp

If you want the truly original dish of Danang, this must be it. "Mì" means noodles and "Quảng" here stands for the province Quang Nam. Well, before you get confused, Danang used to be a part of Quang Nam in the past (called "Quang Nam - Da Nang" province) until 1997 when it was separated and became one of the five independent municipalities in Vietnam. 

There are many types of Mi Quang, ranging from the basic ones such as pork&shrimp or chicken, to more special ingredients like snakehead fish, eel or jellyfish. A bowl of Mi Quang contains a rich layer of vegetables at the bottom, followed by noodles and a fair amount of broth. Unlike many other Vietnamese noodle soup bowls which are usually covered completely by their broths, Mi Quang broth is added just enough to barely soak the noodles. Last but not least, Mi Quang cannot go without the toppings of crushed roasted peanuts, rice crackers, herbs, lemons, and chilli. 


There is no correct way to cook Mi Quang - it really depends on your tastes and preferences. To most of Danangians including me, the best Mi Quang is home-made by their mothers or grandmothers, attached with love and memories. Mi Quang brings out the feeling of genuineness and simplicity just like the people in Central Vietnam, one that is hard to come across in the modern dishes.

Learn how to cook Mi Quang here.

Mi Quang with chicken - Mì Quảng gà 

Mi Quang with snakehead fish - Mì Quảng cá lóc

Mi Quang with eel - Mì quảng lươn

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Where:
Best mi quang shops in Danang

When: preferably lunch. Breakfast and dinner are also ok.

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Danang Seafood

Well I bet you don't need my bragging this time. 

Let the pictures say it all. 

Enjoy!

Crab with sour and sweet tamarind sauce - Cua rang me

"Gai" snail - Oc gai

"Chip chip" stir-fried with garlic - Chip chip xao toi

Steamed clam with lemongrass and other herbs - Ngheu hap

Grilled half-dried squid - Muc mot nang nuong

Hand-cleaning water made from several herbs to kill the smell after eating

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Where: seafood restaurants along the beach or on Son Tra Peninsula. 

My personal favourite place for seafood is Hoa Tư - 17 Huỳnh Thúc Kháng st. I think their food is unbeatable. Its only downfall is lack of beach atmosphere as it is located in the city centre. Just a few hundred meters away there is also another very famous restaurant called Ba Thoi - 96-98 Le Dinh Duong. 

When: afternoon or evening

Price: varies from shop to shop. Averagely, around 300,000VND for 1kg of crabs, 60-70,000VND for 1kg of clams.

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Banh xeo

Bánh xèo (literally "sizzling cake") are Vietnamese savoury pancakes made out of rice flour, water, turmeric powder, stuffed with slivers of fatty pork, shrimp, and bean sprouts and then pan fried. Traditionally, they are served wrapped in mustard leaf, lettuce leaves, and stuffed with mint leaves, basil, fish leaf and/or other herbs, and dipped in a prepared nước mắm called nuoc cham (Vietnamese fish sauce thinned with water and lemon). In the Central region, the pancake is dipped in a special 'tuong' sauce which consists of liver, hoisin sauce and garlic. (Wikipedia)

This is by far my most favourite dish of Danang. So much that if I must recommend only one dish to introduce Danang food, I would unhesitatingly choose this over many other great dishes. Why? Because it is absolutely delicious and "edible" to anyone. The sauce doesn't include any special "nuoc mam" (fish sauce) so don't worry if you can't stand nuoc mam's smell. In fact, the sauce is the key element which separates good and not so good Banh xeo, and makes Banh xeo in Danang unique and different from those in other cities. Most shops also sell "nem lui" together with banh xeo, so don't forget to try them as well.

The best and most famous shop for Banh xeo in Danang is without doubt "Ba Duong" (literally means "Mrs Duong". If you've noticed, lots of food shops in Central Vietnam begin their names with "Ba". Well, lucky lucky Central misters). This shop is located in a very small street but is always crowded. There are around 4 more banh xeo shops opened up in that incredibly narrow street just to compete with "Ba Duong", so make sure you get to the right shop. If you ride a motorbike, make sure you park in Ba Duong's parking lot unless you want to receive unfriendly glances from other shop owners. Well this may sound troublesome, but believe me, the hot sizzling delicious pancakes worth a try ;)  


Click here to know how to roll.

Banh xeo

Nem lụi - don't forget to try this

How to roll banh xeo

Special "tuong" sauce for banh xeo and nem lui

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WHERE

My pick: Ba Duong - K280/23 Hoang Dieu - 30,000 VND per banh xeo dish, 4000 VND per stick of nem lui (as of Dec 8, 2011)

WHEN: mostly dinner. Afternoon is also OK.

The sign of Ba Duong's parking lot

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Banh trang cuon thit heo

The name says it all. It's as simple as rolling dry pancake with pork and some vegetables, dipping in the sauce and eat. How easy is that! So, what makes this dish one of the most special and must-try dishes of Danang? The answer lies in 3 things:

1- The pork: There are fat at both ends of a slice.   

2- The sauce: click here to learn more about Anchovy fish sauce (mắm nêm)

3- The greens: include more than 10 different kinds of herbs such as lettuce, Thai basils, peppermint, banana blossoms, etc.


Yes, it looks very simple. All you need is boiled pork, herbs, rice paper and anchovy fish sauce. So why bother going out to eat instead of making at home? I honestly can't explain. Maybe because of the shops' atmosphere or special fish sauce that can't be replicated at home. Maybe out of laziness. Or maybe because when you're craved for that strong beautiful taste and smell, you'd feel like you HAVE to get it as soon as possible. 




HOW TO ROLL
Basically for many dishes you'd roll like this, but Banh trang cuon thit heo, it's slightly different. There is one more layer of triangle rice flour (which looks like Pho before being cut into strings) to add to the rice paper before inserting vegetables and pork. Small trick: put the rice paper right on top of the rice flour and quickly take it out, one piece of the rice flour with stick together with the rice paper. 

Boiled pork (with fat at both ends) 

Roasted pork

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WHERE: 

1. Mậu 2 - 156 2/9 street. Very original, the best banh trang cuon thit heo in Danang.
2. TRAN II - 334 Hai Phong - 39.000 VND (normal pork) or 50.000 VND (roasted pork) per serve. Tran II is spacious, clean, with very nice and professional staffs. They provide a huge amount of vegetables for each serve and the sauce is delicious. However, the pork is often cut too thinly which is a big minus.

WHEN: Lunch, dinner

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