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Phu Quoc captivates not just with its mesmerizing island scenery but also with a rich culinary paradise, featuring a unique and impressive array of distinctive Phu Quoc specialties perfect as gifts.
1. Phu Quoc Liquor
When you think of Phu Quoc, unique spirits like sim wine from Phu Quoc or snake wine often come to mind.
The sim tree, perhaps the most unique specialty in the Mekong Delta region, thrives exclusively on Phu Quoc Island, creating a vast forest of sim trees that unfolds before travelers on new, exotic journeys. Similar to a medicinal elixir, sim wine is crafted into various types, suitable for different ages, such as sim wine or sim syrup. A visit to Phu Quoc without savoring sim wine and buying gifts in Phu Quoc would be an oversight.
Alongside the miraculous Phu Quoc sim wine, snake wine is also considered a precious medicine for treating joint and bone ailments, sweaty hands and feet, or relieving fatigue and lowering blood pressure. Islanders often soak snake fruits in white wine with various herbal medicines, but the essence, not sweet and slightly bitter like sim, makes snake wine more challenging to drink. Both sim wine and snake wine are unique specialties of the Phu Quoc archipelago, gifts bestowed by the land and sky for humanity.
2. Phu Quoc Fish Sauce
The Phu Quoc fish sauce brand has been affirmed in the market with extensive experience and superior quality. The Phu Quoc archipelago's abundant supply of anchovies, a special ingredient chosen by locals to produce fish sauce with high protein content and no fishy odor. The anchovies must be of the correct type found in the Phu Quoc island region, as only here is there a special algae that serves as food for the fish, imparting a delicious and robust flavor to this Phu Quoc gift item.
In addition to carefully selecting raw materials, the standard 12-month fermentation process, extending to 15 months in some places before extraction based on density, showcases the exquisite touch of the local people that sets Phu Quoc fish sauce apart. Authentic Phu Quoc fish sauce has a natural yellowish color, not dark brown or artificially blended like in other places. When visiting Phu Quoc, tourists can explore fish sauce production facilities, witness the process before placing fish into wooden barrels, observe the filtering process, and explore product display areas.
3. Pepper Salt
Alongside sim wine and fish sauce, black pepper forms a sturdy three-legged stool in the Phu Quoc archipelago's specialty system. Known as the 'kingdom of black pepper,' Phu Quoc boasts extensive pepper plantations with high yields and higher quality Phu Quoc pepper salt than other regions. Bunches of ripe red peppers, densely packed between each leaf, create a vibrant pepper garden under the afternoon sun, reflecting the joyful, fulfilling colors of Phu Quoc's land and sky.
After being harvested, the pepper is dried before being sieved to remove dust and processed into various types, such as pepper powder (a favorite type), black pepper (commonly used in family meals), ripe pepper, pepper salt, or sugar-coated pepper (in candy form). These pepper plantations, rich with fragrance and robust flavors, are an enticing destination for tourists and the ideal place to purchase the most authentic Phu Quoc gift items.
4. Pearls
Pearls are known as precious gems, created by oysters – soft-bodied animals, then cultured in an ideal environment with meticulous processes to produce high-end jewelry, showcasing the unique essence of Phu Quoc Island. Additionally, pearls are crushed to create natural cosmetics beneficial for the skin and used in traditional medicine for calming nerves, detoxification, treating tinnitus, and more. However, today, Phu Quoc pearls are most commonly recognized as souvenirs.
The value of pearls depends on color, size, shape, and cultivation time. Among them, black and golden pearls are two rare and expensive types; white pearls, cultured for 9 – 12 months, are more abundant and affordable. Other colors include gray, pink, purple, green, and more. Nowadays, pearls are widely available at reasonable prices. Due to the proliferation of counterfeit and low-quality items, tourists should choose to buy pearls from reputable establishments in Phu Quoc to avoid any uncertainty about where to buy souvenirs in Phu Quoc.
5. Shiitake Mushrooms
Mushrooms thrive during the rainy season, turning the truffle forest into a dazzling spectacle, resembling a surreal canvas in the rain, leaving behind small, sleek, and vibrant mushroom caps. Harvesting can be done in about a week of growth, prompting locals to venture into the truffle forests, picking mushrooms for processing or selling to the market for tourists looking to buy souvenirs in Phu Quoc.
When freshly harvested, mushrooms are cleaned, stems removed, and can be boiled or sautéed before refrigerating for later use. They can also be dried, but dried mushrooms tend to have a more bitter taste and lack the delicious aroma of fresh ones. Mushrooms can be prepared in various dishes, but the most prominent and traditional is truffle mushroom soup, often cooked with fresh seafood, served with white rice, and Phu Quoc specialty souvenirs like fish sauce.
6. Dried Seafood
Surrounded by vast seas, the endless aquatic resources are a distinct advantage of Phu Quoc. In addition to enjoying fresh seafood in Phu Quoc's fishing villages, tourists can buy various dried seafood as gifts, such as dried fish, dried shrimp, dried seahorses, dried mushrooms, and sea cucumbers, among others.
Various types of dried seafood are meticulously processed, dried under the sun to maintain both freshness and the highest quality. These dried seafood varieties are often available at the market, and tourists can purchase gifts in Phu Quoc at Duong Dong market.
While in Phu Quoc, make sure to visit souvenir stalls or enticing dry seafood shops to bring back the rich flavor of Phu Quoc's specialty souvenirs.
