Friday, January 12, 2007

Nem Nuong, Nha Trang, Vietnam

Nha Trang is a seaside town about 450km from Ho Chi Minh. As a popular retreat for tourists and city dwellers, this place does get pretty touristy in some areas. Besides having some pretty excellent seafood, Nha Trang also has a particular store that does a kickass nem nuong (grilled pork sausage) and that's what I was here for.

With a crowd of so many locals, I knew this wouldn't be a wrong choice.

Nem Nuong tastes abit like a hybrid between a satay, kebab and Taiwan sausage. It's coated over a wooden stick and grilled over a charcoal flame. It tastes predominantly savory with a hint of sweetness. It's pretty tasty by itself but it's more commonly eaten as a rice paper wrap.

It's coupled together with some crispy bean skins, lettuce, herbs, cucumber, raw banana, raw mango and raw carambola (starfruit) slices.

It's then dipped in a tangy chilli fish sauce and inserted into a hungry mouth!

This place also serves bo luc lac which is a grilled beef dish that is commonly eaten with thick rice vermicelli. The slices here were well marinated but the cut of beef was just too slightly too tough. The nem nuong is what makes this place popular.

D

10 comments:

zhengning said...

The Nem Nuong sounds great to taste. Any idea why must it be wrapped with rice paper before dipping it into the chilli sauce? Just wondering why~ ahha, cos we dont wrap anything with satay before dipping into peanut sauce.

Van Cong Tu said...

Oh My God, read your post makes me remember my hometowm. This is one of the most famous and popular dish in Nha Trang and Viet Nam. Very interesting blog.
Thanks for stopping by
Happy New Year

J said...

HAHHAHAA the comments for the duck egg post is so damn funny. U eat chicken eggs, goose liver, duck breast and etc......but why not the foetus egg?

I just have to try that the next trip to vietnam!

Anonymous said...

Mate, the nem nuong isn't red?

Looks delish anyway!

D said...

zhengning: This is just how it's done at this place. It doesn't HAVE to be wrapped in rice paper, sometimes it's with vermicelli or own it's own or with rice. I personally prefer the rice paper method of indulging in this delectable dish =)

godknows: Thanks for dropping by. All the best in your relocation back South!

jason: Let's just let that lie... for now =P

anon: Vietnam doesn't use the food coloring that much. I'm not sure if it's for fiscal reasons or anything.

Anonymous said...

the last time i was in LA, my uncle who is a vietnamese made this rice paper rolls with steamed catfish.. can't find that in singapore though =.=

And i do agree that they have so many types of fish sauce, my uncle made his own for the dip for the rice paper rolls.

D said...

guuu: I had exellent Vietnamese food in USA. There was this place in DC which served the most kickass "Seven Courses of Beef". It's just abit sad how Singapore is so much nearer to Vietnam than the states but the Vietnamese food here is rather poor. I think we just don't have that large of a Vietnamese population here. Sigh.

Anonymous said...

i do agree with that, i really enjoyed vietnamese food in LA and was trying to find something similar here. But till now, can't find any restaurant thats even close to that =.=

Wandering Chopsticks said...

Thanks for visiting my blog! Hehe, Jas' driver must have been from Hanoi, b/c I can't see any reason why he would tell her not to try the nem nuong in Nha Trang. Anyway, since you said there isn't good VNese food in Singapore, it's really easy to make at home http://wanderingchopsticks.blogspot.com/2007/04/nem-nuong-and-nem-nuong-cuon-vietnamese.html

Unknown said...

I was there last year and easily the BEST meal I had in Nha Trang without question perhaps my entire VN trip!