Tuna eyes are a delicious specialty on the banquet table of tourists when coming to Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh. If you have the opportunity to enjoy tuna eyes stewed with green pepper in Quy Nhon, you will be like me, unable to help but exclaim: "It is truly a gift from heaven"!
The South Central Coast is considered the capital of ocean tuna. These fish often migrate seasonally, in schools and are only found in deep water.
Quy Nhon ocean tuna is a specialty that brings high economic value and creates many unique dishes.
Many countries in the world are very fond of this fish. However, they only use the fish meat to prepare food, most commonly for canning, sashimi or sushi.
The characteristics of this fish are delicious, nutritious meat and very large, bright eyes. Vietnam is one of the very few countries that use tuna eyes to make a delicious dish.
 |
| Tuna eyes have become a specialty of the central coastal regions such as Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa. Image of tuna eyes braised with green pepper. (Photo: Dinh Hoa) |
Previously, tuna eyes were an “exclusive” dish of Phu Yen people. When people first learned about this fish, they were not yet proficient in processing and preparing it, so the fish still had a fishy smell and was difficult to eat. The big eyes of the tuna were also not used by people.
By 1999, Phu Yen people had found a way to process fish eyes and the result was a surprisingly delicious dish.
Currently, this unique dish has become a specialty of the central coastal regions such as Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa.
 |
| In Quy Nhon, tuna eyes are processed into many dishes such as braised with green pepper, stewed with Chinese herbs, cooked with giang leaves or tuna eye hotpot... (Photo: Linh Chi) |
Tuna eyes are usually served in a clay pot to keep them warm. To get the best tuna eyes, people usually harvest eyes from fish weighing 40kg or more.
With large fish, the eyes can be as big as a rice bowl. The characteristic of tuna eyes is that they have little meat, the cartilage is crispy, and the flavor is rich and unique.
The preparation of the fish eyes is very important. People often blanch the fish eyes in boiling salt water, then wash them and use many different spices. The side dishes will be two types of green vegetables including chopped mustard greens and perilla.
In Quy Nhon, tuna eyes are processed into many dishes such as braised with green pepper, stewed with Chinese herbs, cooked with giang leaves or tuna eye hotpot...
 |
| The process of preparing fish eyes is very important. (Photo: Linh Chi) |
Having the opportunity to enjoy tuna eyes stewed with green pepper in Quy Nhon, I exclaimed: "It's truly a gift from heaven"!
The main flavor of this dish is determined by the fresh green peppercorns. The spicy flavor of the peppercorns helps to remove the fishy smell of the fish eyes.
Besides green pepper, this stew also has many other ingredients to make the broth more flavorful such as ginger, chili, shallot, ginger, green pepper, celery...
 |
| Diners enjoy braised tuna eyes with pepper at a restaurant on Nguyen Trung Tin Street, Nguyen Van Cu Ward, Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh. (Photo: Dinh Hoa) |
Sharing with TG&VN reporter, Ms. Thu Sang, manager of a restaurant selling tuna eyes in Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh said that Quy Nhon tuna eyes is a unique culinary feature. Each diner coming to the restaurant will enjoy 1 bowl (equivalent to 1 tuna eye) which is enough to not get bored.
However, according to her, there are also some customers who enjoy 2 fish eyes at a time because of the attractiveness of this dish.
"Tuna eye is a must-try dish for tourists when coming to Quy Nhon. I hope that with this unique and special dish, more domestic and international tourists will come to this land known as 'the land of martial arts and the land of literature'," said Ms. Thu Sang.
 |
| Quy Nhon tuna eyes are a unique culinary feature. (Photo: Linh Chi) |
Source
Comment (0)