Cat Ba pearl island not only owns beautiful beaches, diverse natural landscapes but also is a culinary paradise with many delicious dishes made from seafood such as: Horseshoe crab sea, lobster, otter clam, shrimp noodle… or famous specialties such as Cat Hai fish sauce, forest honey in Cat Ba National Park.
- Horseshoe crab
With natural origin, horseshoe crab in Cat Ba is always guaranteed to be fresh and become a delicacy not to be missed when traveling to Cat Ba. Traveling to Cat Ba Island, you definitely cannot miss horseshoe crab because of its rich and special flavor than many other places.
Horseshoe crab is processed into many delicious dishes, popular as soups, salads, stir-fried horseshoe crab with lemongrass and chili, sweet and sour horseshoe crab, horseshoe crab vermicelli and porridge … but the most attractive and popular is grilled horseshoe crab. In particular, the female horseshoe crab in the breeding season often bring large eggs, rich in protein, so when baked up, this becomes an unforgettable delicacy.
- Otter clam
Otter clam, or elephant snail, is famous for being one of the rare seafoods with high nutrition and special flavor. Cat Ba is a place where the sea is suitable for the growth and development of this mollusk, so otter clam at Cat Ba Island has extremely delicious quality.
The otter clam can be cooked in many ways such as grilling, steaming with fat and onion, steaming with chili, or otter clam porridge…
Lobster
One of the specialties that must be enjoyed when coming to Cat Ba is lobster. Lobsters are caught right in the day with big size. Lobsters have many types: big lobster, green lobster, tropical rock lobster… each of them has different processing ways. People on Cat Ba Island have the habit of using alcohol on the spot, then steaming with beer or grilling.
- Shrimp noodle
It can be said that shrimp noodle is a unique dish of Cat Ba sea. Only by very simple ingredients such as shrimp, fish ball, herbs and noodle but its flavor makes tourists remember it forever.
The delicious fresh shrimp are caught from the Cat Ba sea, after being cleaned, peeled, then fried with a little cooking oil and dry onions. Along with that is the pieces of gold fish paste, indian taro, lolot leave rolls, a little onion, dill and tomato slices filled with aromatic broth, sweet, sour tamarind sauce.
- Cat Hai fish sauce (Van Van)
Cat Hai fish sauce is produced in focus in Cat Hai island district, is a key and most famous commodity of Cat Hai island, Hai Phong. Previously, most people in the North of Vietnam still knew more about Cat Hai fish sauce under the name Van Van fish sauce through the famous folk verse of Northern cuisine: “La melon, Lang Basil, Bang roll, Ban soybean paste, Van Van fish sauce, Dam Set perch”.
Different from other types of industrial sauces on the market, Cat Hai fish sauce has high protein, rich in nutritional value, special aroma and flavor.
- Cat Ba forest honey
Favored by nature, diverse flora, fresh air, Cat Ba is a potential place to develop beekeeping. In particular, forest flowers are a source of valuable nectar and pollen, creating a brand of Cat Ba honey. Talking about Cat Ba forest honey, the first impression of those who have had the opportunity to use will surely see a clear difference compared to the types of honey originating from other regions by color. The yellow color is very typical, the taste is delicious and sweet without any “bold sweetness” of sugar and molasses.
In particular, Cat Ba honey is the best in summer, because this is the time in the forests have many valuable flowers so the quality of honey is also higher. In addition to the nutritional value of many vitamins and minerals that enhance health and beauty, the important difference of Cat Ba forest honey is its high medicinal properties that support the prevention and treatment of a number of diseases such as: stomach, inflammation, stabilizing blood sugar… due to pollen sources collected by the bees, from hundreds of natural flowers in the forests of the island.
