Top 11 Specialties of Khánh Hòa You Shouldn't Miss

Ninh Hòa Grilled Pork Rolls are a renowned specialty of Khánh Hòa. The name Ninh Hòa refers to the district within this province. The rolls are made from finely ground lean meat mixed with a bit of fat and seasoning, then grilled over charcoal. When eating, they're wrapped in thin rice paper along with fresh herbs, crispy fried rice paper, various greens, pickled vegetables, mango, and banana, dipped in a specially prepared sauce according to the cook's recipe.

Ninh Hòa Grilled Pork Rolls have long been a famous dish of the Khánh Hòa region, known by many travelers. Because of its fame, these rolls are sold in many provinces across the country, leading to variations in dipping sauce, herbs, and accompanying toppings. Therefore, when visiting Khánh Hòa, you must try Ninh Hòa Grilled Pork Rolls to fully savor the essence of this renowned dish.

Contact Information:

Address: Ninh Hòa Grilled Pork Rolls - Đặng Văn Quyên, 02 – 04 Phan Bội Châu, Nha Trang City, Khánh Hòa Province

Address: Mrs. Năm - Ninh Hòa Pork Roll and Sausage, 50 Lê Lợi, Ninh Hòa District, Khánh Hòa Province

Address: Đặng Văn Quyên Grilled Pork Rolls, 16A Lãn Ông, Nha Trang City, Khánh Hòa Province

When it comes to the renowned seafood of Nha Trang, one cannot overlook the Bình Ba Spiny Lobster. The lobsters here are bred in cages by local fishermen, nourished with natural food sources such as fish, crabs, clams, oysters, mussels, and squid... without the use of artificial nutrients.

Praised as the specialties of Khanh Hoa, there's a folk saying: 'Swiftlets from Hon Noi, ducks from Ninh Hoa, spiny lobsters from Bình Ba, dried deer from Dien Khanh, mudskipper fish from Vo Canh, blood cockles from Thuy Trieu.' Among these delicacies, the distinctive flavor of the Bình Ba Spiny Lobster stands out, bearing the essence of the sea. Bình Ba is a beautiful small island in the jurisdiction of Cam Ranh City. Beyond enchanting visitors with its pristine beauty, it's also dubbed the 'lobster island,' renowned for its high-quality spiny lobsters with unique flavors. Here, you can indulge in various dishes made from spiny lobsters, such as porridge or steamed dishes, especially sashimi due to the unparalleled freshness of the lobsters in Bình Ba. Thanks to the abundant natural food sources, Bình Ba spiny lobsters have firm, fragrant, and flavorful meat, with some weighing between 1.5 - 2kg.

Contact Information:

Address: Bình Ba Island, Cam Ranh, Khanh Hoa

Swiftlets from Hon Noi are a precious gift bestowed by nature to the locals here. During feudal times, swiftlet nests were considered royal gifts, only used by kings and nobles. In Khanh Hoa, swiftlets naturally inhabit over 30 small islands. Among them, the most famous is Hon Noi, followed by Hon Ngoai, Hon Sam... Swiftlets often build their nests on high rocky cliffs, and people often construct bamboo scaffolds along these cliffs to harvest swiftlet nests. Swiftlet nests are divided into many types such as blood nests, leaf nests, white nests, yellow nests...

Swiftlet nests are a valuable and nutritious product of Khanh Hoa, becoming a renowned brand both domestically and internationally. Harvesting swiftlet nests has long been a traditional profession in this region. There are many types of swiftlet nests such as blood nests, leaf nests, white nests, yellow nests... People can use swiftlet nests to make bird's nest soup, lotus seed sweet soup, simmered tough chicken, pigeon, crab soup, fish porridge, mixed fruit dessert.

Contact Information:

Address: Khanh Hoa Swiftlet Nest Company - Hon Chong Clubhouse, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa.

Address: Nha Trang Swiftlet Nest Dang Thai Than, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa.

Rice cakes are a quite popular and familiar dish to people in the Central Southern region. Depending on each locality, rice cakes are prepared differently. In Khanh Hoa, rice cakes become more distinctive with squid rice cakes, shrimp rice cakes, or eggs combined with squid. Rice cakes are often made from rice flour with added eggs and seafood to avoid monotony. Whether rice cakes are delicious or not largely depends on the dipping sauce. The accompanying dipping sauce is slightly sweet fish sauce with minced garlic and fried shallots, some places also add a bit of savory meatballs to make the dish more enticing.

Locals here often use large, coarse rice grains as the main ingredient to make Nha Trang rice cakes. Finally, pour the batter into the cake mold to bake on charcoal stove and evenly sprinkle various fillings on the surface. In addition, the rice cake menu offers a variety of fillings from minced pork, eggs to shrimp, squid.

Contact Information:

Address: Rice cake shop at 151 Hoang Van Thu, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa

Address: Mrs. Tu's rice cake shop on 6A Thap Ba Street, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa

Address: Rice cake shop 51, 24 To Hien Thanh, Tan Lap, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa

Besides its famous seafood dishes, Khanh Hoa is also renowned for its specialties from the mountainous district of Dien Khanh, exemplified by Dried Deer Meat from Dien Khanh. For those who enjoy seafood, the famous Binh Ba Lobster might satisfy them, but Dried Deer Meat from Dien Khanh will surely please those who prefer mountainous specialties. In the past, Dien Khanh town, including the mountainous district of Khanh Vinh, was a place with the highest number of deer in the province.

The deer meat here is processed, marinated with various spices to ensure thorough absorption, then grilled and dried, resulting in flavorful and uniquely fragrant dried deer meat pieces. If you have the opportunity to visit this mountainous area, remember to buy this specialty as a gift for your family because this dried deer meat is a rarity in Khanh Hoa.

Contact Information:

Address: SEAVY Dried Seafood, 48A Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Tan Lap, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa

Address: Specialty Dried Seafood 31, 31 Ngo Gia Tu, Phuoc Tien, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa

Returning to the countryside of Ninh Hoa - Khanh Hoa, visitors will have the opportunity to both admire the beautiful scenery and witness thousands of ducks grazing freely on vast fields. Moreover, they can witness firsthand the process of preparing duck dishes, which are diverse and enticing. Ninh Hoa Duck is a breed of fat and meaty ducks, with long necks, raised naturally in the fields. Their diet consists of fallen rice grains, worms, snails, field crabs, shrimp, and small crustaceans, resulting in tender and flavorful meat that is not tough and highly preferred.

Ducks in Ninh Hoa are raised naturally, so the meat is very firm and fragrant. When in Ninh Hoa, you must try duck porridge and duck cooked with fermented rice to experience the unique culinary charm of Ninh Hoa, which will surely leave an unforgettable impression on you. The most popular dishes include duck porridge, boiled duck served with ginger fish sauce, grilled fermented rice marinated duck, duck cooked with bamboo shoots... all dishes are delicious, enticing, and full of flavor.

Contact Information:

Address: Au Co Duck Restaurant, 6 Lac Long Quan, Phuoc Tan, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa

Address: Han Thuyen Duck Restaurant, 26 Han Thuyen, Xuong Huan, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa

If anyone asks, 'What to eat in Khanh Hoa?' surely many tourists will mention the famous Nha Trang jellyfish noodles. Jellyfish noodles is one of the delicious dishes that visitors cannot miss when visiting Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa. The most prominent ingredient of the dish is perhaps the white or translucent white jellyfish meat, thick and crunchy, refreshing to the bite.

Usually, a bowl of jellyfish noodles also includes fish cake, fish sausage, fresh herbs... and is flooded with sweet and savory broth. You can add ground chili and lime to make your bowl of noodles more enticing. The special thing about this dish is its rich and flavorful taste of the sea from the crisp, refreshing jellyfish, the soft and sweet fish cake, the firm and fresh fish, and especially the clear broth that is sweet, refreshing, and fragrant.

Contact Information:

Address: Dam Market Jellyfish Noodles and Fish Cake Noodles, Ly Quoc Su, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa

Address: Jellyfish Fish Noodles - 23 YET Kieu, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa

Address: Jellyfish Fish Noodles - Jellyfish Noodles Nha Trang, 3 Tang Bat Ho, Ward. Van Thanh, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa

Chive Leaf Tapioca Soup is a dish not unfamiliar to those in Ho Chi Minh City, but undoubtedly, the chive leaf tapioca soup in Khanh Hoa carries the distinctive taste of the sea, unlike the version in HCMC. So when you're in Khanh Hoa, you absolutely shouldn't miss out on the chive leaf tapioca soup. It's not just a refreshing dish for breakfast, but it also gently awakens your taste buds with its delicate broth made from fish.

In Khanh Hoa, for only 15,000 - 30,000 VND, you can enjoy a special bowl of chive leaf tapioca soup with a variety of toppings such as fish cakes, fish balls, quail eggs, and more. The broth is cooked from fresh mackerel and tuna, giving it a naturally sweet flavor. The tapioca noodles are made from long, thin rice grains, chewy and accompanied by broth cooked from fish along with exquisite toppings. And the indispensable element that contributes to the distinctive flavor of the dish is a layer of fresh, green chive leaves on top.

Contact Information:

Address: Chive Leaf Tapioca Soup Vạn Gĩa - 1 Tô Hiến Thành, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa

Address: Hai Quẳng Tapioca Soup - 20 Đinh Tiên Hoàng, Vạn Giã Town, Vạn Ninh, Khanh Hoa

Address: Hai Cá Tapioca Soup - 156 Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa

Seafood is a familiar and famous dish for tourists when visiting Khanh Hoa. Among the famous seafood in Khanh Hoa, Sea Urchin leaves the most impression on tourists.

Sea Urchin, also known as sea hedgehog, has a prickly appearance that can cause harm to fishermen if they lack experience. However, hidden deep inside the sea urchin is a layer of quality meat that can be processed into various dishes. The people of Nha Trang create many delicious and nutritious dishes from sea urchins, such as sea urchin porridge. To make delicious sea urchin porridge, you need to choose live sea urchins that have just been caught from the sea. Additionally, sea urchins are also processed into many other unique dishes such as grilled sea urchin with scallion oil, steamed sea urchin mixed with eggs, braised sea urchin served with hot rice, or even raw sea urchin, although not everyone enjoys this dish.

Contact Information:

Address: Tam Meo Seafood Restaurant, 40 Tran Phu, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa.

Address: Gio Bien Restaurant, 10 Pham Van Dong, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa.

Mai fish is about the size of a thumb, with a smooth, flat body, somewhat resembling rice fish but without scales, longitudinal stripes, sweet and very little fishy taste. This type of fish is almost exclusively used to make the famous Mai fish salad. Mai fish salad is a famous dish not found in every coastal region. In Nha Trang, Mai fish salad is often chosen by many people to treat guests.

Visiting the coastal region of Khanh Hoa, tourists cannot miss the specialties from fish, shrimp, especially the Mai fish salad. With a special flavor, not as fishy as other types of fish, Mai fish salad has a quite unique taste, sweet and fragrant, very attractive. Mai fish salad is eaten with various herbs, green mangoes, creating a harmonious blend of flavors. If you visit Khanh Hoa without trying Mai fish salad, it's really regrettable!

Contact Information:

Address: Seafood restaurants on Ngo Si Lien Street, April 2 Street or Thap Ba Street, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa

Khanh Hoa is renowned for its various delicious dishes such as grilled fish, jellyfish vermicelli, grilled pork rolls, and rice noodle soup. Among these famous dishes is the Van Ninh squid vermicelli. Van Ninh squid vermicelli is a dish that every traveler must indulge in when passing through the coastal region of Dai Lanh in the north of Khanh Hoa province. This dish is extremely simple to make, but its flavor is uniquely delicious, not commonly found elsewhere.

Just by mentioning its name, one can already recognize the main ingredient used to cook this dish: squid. The cook selects small squids, about 2 to 3 fingers in size. The broth used in this dish depends on the freshness of the squid; the fresher the squid, the sweeter the broth. Other simple ingredients include tomatoes, cilantro, culantro, scallions, and shallots. It can be said that Van Ninh squid vermicelli is a dish that embodies the essence of the homeland and is the pride of the people in the coastal area of Dai Lanh. Enjoying a bowl of Van Ninh squid vermicelli, you will feel the simple, rustic life of the people in this coastal region.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Address: Various eateries starting from Co Ma Pass, along National Highway 1A to the Dai Lanh area, Van Ninh district, Khanh Hoa province