The north central province of Nghe An is famous for many specialities such as Nhut Thanh Chuong (salad of salted bits of jackfruit), Tuong Nam Dan (soya sauce), and Cam Xa Doai (orange). Of course, it is impossible not to mention delicious dishes made from fresh and small copper eels in the locality.

A variety of dishes are prepared from copper eels, including eel porridge, eel vermicelli, eel soup, stir fried eels with lemongrass and hot chili, grilled eels, and fried eels.

Nghe An’s eel dishes are not much different than eel dishes in other localities nationwide, but what makes the difference is how to process fresh eels.

Copper eels chosen to prepare dishes are usually fresh-eel, uneven size, and bright yellow. Eels must be processed immediately after being bought from markets, so that the eel meat will remain delicious, sweet, firm and cool.

Mr Quyet, the owner of the Aunt Mai’s Restaurant at 149 Chau Thi Vinh Te Street in Ngu Hanh Son District, said to make tasty dishes from eels, the most important step is to choose eels. He noted that copper eels are not as big as raised ones, and they have black backs and yellow bellies.

After being cleaned, eels will be boiled with a little turmeric powder. After that, eel meat will be cut into long pieces and stir fried with fresh turmeric juice, chili powder, and pepper.

Surely, nobody can resist the lure of a bowl of hot eel soup or eel vermicelli, awakening the senses with its strong flavour, pungent spice and the yellow colour of turmeric powder.

In Da Nang, you can enjoy many Nghe An Province’s specialities in such restaurants as Aunt Mai's Restaurant at 149 Chau Thi Vinh Te Street, a restaurant for Nghe An specialties at 102 Ton Dan, the Bong Restaurant on Duong Van Nga Street, and the Hai Restaurant at 209 Le Thanh Nghi.

By THACH LAM - Translated by MAI DUNG