8 Con Dao Specialties You Should Buy As Gifts For Friends And Relatives

In addition to attracting tourists by its wild beauty, Con Dao also has countless delicious dishes that are still a mystery to many travel enthusiasts. Hãy nghe Trần Thuỳ Thanh Xuân (Đồng Nai) một travel blogger nổi tiếng bật mí .

Con Dao is a beautiful island of Vietnam, an ideal destination added to the list of places worth going for young people today. Have you found delicious Con Dao dishes when visiting this famous place? This is certainly also a concern of many young people when visiting Con Dao tourist destinations. Today, I will introduce to you Con Dao specialties that are worth buying and should be tried once because of their irresistible deliciousness.

1. Pangium fruticosa jam - Con Dao

Pangium fruticosa is a woody plant that lives mainly in tropical regions, belonging to the Myrtle family; Con Dao has a suitable climate for them to live. This tree in Con Dao has very large fruits, which are harvested by people, then dried and separated to get the seeds, marinated with salt or sugar. Pangium fruticosa seeds are large, rich, fatty and very fragrant, however, if you eat raw Pangium fruticosa seeds, you will easily get drunk, so you should look for processed ones. Con Dao is one of the few places with Pangium fruticosa jam as a specialty, so if you have the opportunity to visit the island, try to enjoy it or buy it as a gift. You can visit dry food stores in the market or large stores, Con Dao market to buy, the price is usually around 500,000 VND/kg.

Image source: Collected

2. Moon crab

Moon crabs are often found in coral reefs in Con Dao, with the identifying feature being the dark red circles that resemble the shape of a moon on their shells. Moon crabs have delicious meat, just steaming them will make you feel the sweetness melting on your tongue. Therefore, although Moon crabs can be prepared in many ways such as tamarind sauce or hot pot, steamed crab with salt, pepper and lemon is still the top choice of tourists. Prices range from 200,000 - 300,000 VND/plate (depending on the time).

Image source: Collected

3. Oyster Sauce - Con Dao

It may sound quite strange to some people in Saigon, but in fact, Con Dao Oyster Sauce is a famous specialty of the locals. Con Dao Oyster Sauce is made entirely by hand. After preparing the oysters, people will process, marinate and put them in a sealed jar to ferment - the longer the ferment, the more delicious and fragrant the flavor. The price of Con Dao Oyster Sauce is about 165,000 VND/bottle.

With a rich, familiar sea flavor and also providing many high nutritional values from oysters, sliced lemon, mixed with a little spicy chili, if you have the opportunity to enjoy Con Dao dishes once, I'm afraid you will remember it forever.

Image source: Collected

4. Snail Vu Nang

Wandering around the fishing village of Con Dao to find moon crabs, you should not miss the delicious dish of snail vu nang, a rare seafood specialty, with a tilted cone shape, a small knob on the top, a gray-black outer shell, and a mother-of-pearl sparkling inner surface. Con Dao snail vu nang is available all year round, but only appears a lot on full moon days. The snail meat is white and delicious, and can be prepared like other types of snails such as steamed, stir-fried, grilled, boiled, etc.

Image source: Collected

5. Con Dao Sea Worm

Con Dao Sea Worm is an extremely rare seafood, quite difficult to catch because usually, they only appear in March or July. You will have the opportunity to enjoy Con Dao Sea Worm if you travel at this golden time. Con Dao Sea Worm has very high nutritional value, cooling, cooling the lungs or increasing vitality. You can eat dried or fresh sea worms, both are equally wonderful. This Con Dao specialty has a very high value - 1kg of sea worms costs from 3,500,000 - 4,500,000 VND.

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6. Shark Salad

As one of the specialties of the islands around the sea, Con Dao Shark Salad contains high nutritional content, is neutral, non-toxic, has the effect of nourishing the body, increasing vitality. Con Dao Shark Salad is processed to be easy to eat, mixed with chopped Vietnamese coriander, served with fresh vegetables and rice paper rolls, delicious dipping sauce blending with the salty taste of the ocean. You can easily find this dish when walking around the coastal shops, the price usually fluctuates between 130,000-150,000 VND/portion.

Image source: Collected

7. Red Grouper

Red Grouper is a very rare fish, usually living in coral reefs, only Con Dao can exploit and supply this fish; therefore, the price is quite expensive, it can be said that "expensive is worth the money". However, the nutritional content of Red Grouper is good for malnourished children, thin adults, slow-growing fetuses, weak tendons and bones, edema, weakness... Delicious dishes in Con Dao made from Red Grouper include steamed with soy sauce, Red Grouper salad with mustard, Red Grouper hotpot... The fish meat is firm, chewy, sweet and you will definitely regret it if you have the opportunity to visit but do not have time to enjoy it.

Image source: Collected

8. Sea Urchin Sauce - Con Dao

Con Dao Sea Urchin Sauce is a specialty originating from Quang Ngai, spread to other islands around the sea. The process of catching and processing sea urchins is also quite difficult, the time to catch sea urchins starts from the Spring Equinox and ends in the Beginning of Autumn, when catching, you must be very careful not to stir the water too much because the sea urchins will attach their spines to their bodies and be difficult to remove.

Depending on the taste of each person, but usually you will not need to add other spices. The flavor of Con Dao Sea Urchin Sauce is sweet and fragrant, fatty from the sea urchin meat, salty and sour from the spices, a strong aroma from the fermentation process, can be eaten with boiled pork noodles, hot rice,... The price of a jar of Con Dao Sea Urchin Sauce ranges from 120,000 - 135,000 VND, you can buy it at specialty stores, supermarkets or at Con Dao market.