Fresh herring after catching from Nam O fishing village is preliminarily cleaned, marinated with spices and then made into a specialty dish of dry fish salad or wet salad, served with a typical dipping sauce.

Da Nang is not only the most famous tourist destination in the country with beautiful natural scenery but also “holds” visitors by its rich cuisine, bold coastal flavor.

In addition to famous specialties such as squid rim me, spring rolls, beef rolls, sesame dry cakes, …, in Da Nang, there is also a rustic delicacy containing the culinary quintessence of the whole region. That is herring salad in Nam O fishing village.

Herring salad in Nam O fishing village – one of the famous specialties of Da Nang (Photo: Hong Duyen).

This dish is named after its origin, Nam O fishing village. This village is located at the mouth of Cu De River, at the foot of Hai Van Pass in Lien Chieu District, Da Nang City, and has been around for hundreds of years.

Previously, Nam O fish salad was a rustic dish of Da Nang fishermen, made from many fish species here such as sardines, cobia, anchovies… but the most delicious is still herring. Because they don’t have the conditions to do elaborate processing and want to enjoy the fresh taste of sea fish, they create their own salad and use it in the family together. 

From a rustic dish of Da Nang fishermen, herring salad becomes a famous specialty, attracting tourists from all over the world (Photo: @trungbuii).

Gradually, Nam O herring salad is known and loved by many people, becoming a specialty that makes up the “brand” of the fishing village in particular and Da Nang in general. Herring in Nam O sea is available all year round, is caught fresh every day with juicy, firm flesh. 

To prepare a delicious salad, Da Nang people have to choose herring caught in the early morning, the size of which is about the size of two fingers. The fresh fish at that time still retains the delicious and sweet taste of the meat. 

Herring is preliminarily cleaned, cut into fillets, and then marinated with spices such as galangal, garlic, chili, … to eliminate fishy, ​​make up the aroma (Photo: Hong Duyen).

The fish is cleaned of scales, cut off the head, gutted, boneless, then washed with water and sliced ​​thinly to taste. To eliminate the fishy smell of fish, people here often apply a small secret that is to add a little salt and vinegar when washing fish.

Clean fish meat can be processed into two dishes, which are wet herring salad and dried herring salad. With dry salad, people make herring meat with lemon, vinegar, and lemon, then squeeze and drain. Continue to marinate herring meat with hot spicy spices such as chili, ginger to eliminate fishy then mix more hearing and a little roasted sesame, both creating eye-catching color and aroma.

This salad requires meticulous processing to keep the sweet and cool taste of herring meat (Photo: @quemidang). Diners enjoying the herring salad for the first time are somewhat cautious, but if they get used to it, they will enjoy the taste of the typical dish of Da Nang coastal area (Photo: Hong Duyen).

Wet salad is also processed similar to dry salad, but instead of mixing fish with hearing, people use a spicy broth made from the delicious fish sauce of Nam O fishing village with a little ginger, garlic, and minced chili. and road. Thinly sliced ​​pieces of fish are fully immersed in the water with enough sweet and sour taste, increasing the irresistible deliciousness.

In addition to carefully selected and preliminarily processed herring, salad dressing is also considered the soul of the dish. The fish juice obtained from the re-lemon stage is brought to a boil, adding Nam O fish sauce and other ingredients including chili powder, tapioca starch, and ground peanuts. Cook the mixture until it thickens, then scoop it out into a bowl and enjoy with the salad. 

Herring salad has two ways of processing: wet salad and dry salad (Photo: @van0503). The thick sauce from fish juice, Nam O fish sauce and tapioca flour, peanuts, roasted sesame,… is an important factor in determining the quality of the fish salad (Photo: Hong Duyen).

Although there are two ways to prepare it, wet herring salad or dried herring salad are also enjoyed with grilled rice paper (rice paper rolls) and raw vegetables. In addition to the usual vegetables such as lettuce, bean sprouts, grated banana, the people of Nam O also eat a fish salad with cloves, brooch, wild bananas, raw mangoes, cucumbers, and sliced ​​star fruit.

Roll the fish salad with a piece of rice paper rolls, add raw vegetables of all kinds and then rub it with a thick dipping sauce, diners can feel the natural sweetness of herring, the rich taste of fish sauce mixed with peanuts, roasted sesame and a little fresh. cool of green vegetables. All blend together to form a very effective heat-clearing dish.

Nam O herring salad served with fresh vegetables is very cool, helping to relieve nausea effectively (Photo: Hong Duyen). Roll a piece of herring salad, brush with dipping sauce, diners feel the rich taste of the sea as spreading throughout the mouth (Photo: Hong Duyen).

Diners can also enjoy the dish in another way, by adding fish salad and broth to the cup, adding grilled rice paper, raw vegetables of all kinds and then mixing it up. The sweetness of herring meat, spicy broth, green banana slices, sour star fruit slices and the cool taste of raw vegetables blend together to create a famous specialty of Da Thanh land.

To Da Nang, visitors can go to Nam O fishing village to directly enjoy the famous herring salad. In addition, restaurants and eateries at some tourist attractions in the city center or along the beach also serve this unique dish.