Ca Mau food guide
Ca Mau eats the mangrove: crab for the meal, salted ba khía with hot rice, and dried shrimp, Năm Căn crackers, and U Minh honey to carry home. The forest day adds grilled snakehead, bee-pupa salad, and eel braised with nhàu leaves.
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Photo: Phương Huy · CC BY-SA 4.0
Eat Cà Mau as the cape, not as a second Cần Thơ. The plate that tells you where you are is mangrove crab, or ba khía muối with hot rice. Mudskipper and Khai Long clams come from the same flats, and the U Minh forest brings the fermented-fish hotpot, grilled snakehead, bee pupae, and eel.
The U Minh hotpot has two published recipes. One cooks it with mắm cá sặc, lemongrass, fish, shrimp, squid, and forest greens. Another cooks it with mắm sặt, freshwater fish, coconut water, and a green list that includes hẹ nước.
Eat by area rather than by restaurant: crab at Đất Mũi and in the city, ba khía at Rạch Gốc, the forest plates at U Minh Hạ. The river market on the Gành Hào is the city's food scene on the water.
Ca Mau specialties
Crab and salted ba khía lead. Then the mangrove flats, the U Minh forest, and the dried bags to carry home.
- Cua Ca Mau
- Ba khia muoi
- Ca thoi loi
- Lau mam U Minh
- Ca loc nuong U Minh
- Ngheu Khai Long
- Lau ca khoai
- Banh phong tom Nam Can
- Tom kho
- Goi nhong ong
- Ca kho boi U Minh
- Tom su Ca Mau
- Bon bon Cai Nuoc
- Ruou trai giac
Cua Ca Mau Cua Cà Mau
Cua Cà Mau is the mangrove crab of the cape, sold as meat crab or roe crab. Meat crab is firm and sweet, and roe crab is full and rich.
Ba khia muoi Ba khía muối
Ba khía muối is a small mangrove crab, salted and eaten with hot rice. It feeds on fallen mắm fruit, so the meat is firm and the roe is scant.
Ca thoi loi Cá thòi lòi
Cá thòi lòi is the mudskipper of the cape flats, a fish that swims, runs across the mud, and climbs. It is not bony and not strongly fishy, and comes grilled, in a hotpot, braised with pepper, or dried.
Lau mam U Minh Lẩu mắm U Minh
Lẩu mắm U Minh is the fermented-fish hotpot of the melaleuca forest, shared with fish and forest greens in the pot. One recipe adds shrimp, squid, and lemongrass; another cooks freshwater fish in coconut water.
Ca loc nuong U Minh Cá lóc nướng U Minh
Cá lóc nướng is snakehead from the U Minh melaleuca water, grilled over straw or tràm-wood charcoal. It comes with rau cỏ the, bông súng, and đọt rau muống đồng.
Ngheu Khai Long Nghêu Khai Long
Nghêu Khai Long is the clam of the Khai Long flat, thick-fleshed and free of sand. It is steamed over lemongrass and crushed ginger until the shells open and eaten hot.
Lau ca khoai Lẩu cá khoai
Lẩu cá khoai is a hotpot of cá khoai, a fish with few bones and crisp, sweet flesh. It comes with herbs and bún.
Banh phong tom Nam Can Bánh phồng tôm Năm Căn
Bánh phồng tôm Năm Căn is the shrimp cracker of the fishing town on the road to the cape. Eat it as a crisp snack or carry a bag home.
Tom kho Tôm khô
Tôm khô Rạch Gốc is dried shrimp from the mangrove, a collective trademark of the cape. Eat it with rice or carry a bag home.
Goi nhong ong Gỏi nhộng ong
Gỏi nhộng ong is a salad of young bee pupae from the U Minh honey harvest. The version to look for mixes the pupae with banana blossom.
Ca kho boi U Minh Cá khô bổi U Minh
Cá khô bổi U Minh is dried sặc rằn from Trần Văn Thời. The fish grows slowly here, and the dried flesh is firm and fragrant.
Tom su Ca Mau Tôm sú Cà Mau
Tôm sú Cà Mau is the province's black tiger prawn, protected by a geographical indication alongside cua Cà Mau.
Bon bon Cai Nuoc Bồn bồn Cái Nước
Dưa bồn bồn Cái Nước is pickled bồn bồn, the cattail of Cái Nước. It is a collective trademark and a jar to eat with rice or carry home.
Ruou trai giac Rượu trái giác
Rượu trái giác is a spirit made from giác fruit, on Cà Mau's list of gifts to carry home.
Where to eat
Đất Mũi and the city are the crab. Rạch Gốc is the ba khía. U Minh Hạ is the hotpot, the grilled snakehead, the honey, the bee-pupa salad, and the eel. Năm Căn is the cracker and the boats on the way south. Cái Đôi Vàm is the dried cá khoai. Cái Nước is the bồn bồn. Thới Bình is the fermented snakehead.
Order by the area and the dish rather than by a restaurant name.
Plates
Start with cua Cà Mau and ba khía muối. The crab is also called cua Năm Căn and is exported to Korea, Malaysia, China, and Taiwan. Cua Cà Mau holds a geographical indication, and cua Năm Căn holds a collective mark. They are the same crab.
Cá thòi lòi is the mudskipper. Đuông chà là is the palm grub, and not everyone will eat it. Gỏi nhộng ong and lươn um lá nhàu are the U Minh plates. Tôm sú Cà Mau is the province's other geographical indication, and cá chình and cá bống tượng share one Tân Thành mark.
Mangrove flats of the cape
The mudskipper of the flats, not bony and not strongly fishy. Order it grilled, in a hotpot, braised with pepper, or dried.
The cape countryside
The fat, white grub of the chà là palm trunk, eaten with nước mắm. Not everyone will try it.
U Minh Hạ
Young bee pupae from the U Minh honey harvest, best known mixed with banana blossom. The same pupae also come batter-fried or as mắm ong.
U Minh Hạ
Freshwater eel braised with nhàu leaves and coconut. The eel is sweet, the coconut rich, and the leaves sweet-bitter.
Cà Mau province
The province's black tiger prawn, protected by a geographical indication alongside cua Cà Mau.
Tân Thành
Freshwater eel and marble goby sold under one Tân Thành collective trademark.
Seafood and the forest pot
Nghêu Khai Long is the clam from after Tết through the end of May and June. Lẩu mắm U Minh and cá lóc nướng belong to the melaleuca forest. Lẩu cá khoai is the fish hotpot with herbs and bún. Cá khoai Cái Đôi Vàm is the same fish dried, from that town.
Ngheu Khai Long Nghêu Khai Long
Bãi Khai Long
Thick, sand-free clams steamed over lemongrass and crushed ginger, eaten hot with muối tiêu chanh. The flat is busiest after Tết through May and June.
U Minh Hạ
The fermented-fish hotpot of the forest, shared with fish and forest greens in the pot. One recipe adds shrimp, squid, and lemongrass; another cooks freshwater fish in coconut water.
Ca loc nuong Cá lóc nướng
U Minh Hạ
Snakehead grilled over straw or tràm-wood charcoal and eaten with forest greens. It is best from the tenth lunar month through the first.
Lau ca khoai Lẩu cá khoai
Cà Mau city and the coast
A hotpot of cá khoai, a fish with few bones and crisp, sweet flesh, served with herbs and bún.
Thị trấn Cái Đôi Vàm, huyện Phú Tân
Dried cá khoai from the drying village of this coastal town, a collective trademark to carry home.
Ca kho boi U Minh Cá khô bổi U Minh
Trần Văn Thời
Dried sặc rằn from a fish that grows slowly here. The dried flesh is firm and fragrant.
Thới Bình
Fermented snakehead from north of the city, a collective trademark and a gift to carry home.
Rạch Gốc
Dried mangrove shrimp under the Rạch Gốc collective mark. Eat it with rice or carry a bag home.
Sweets and bags
Mật ong U Minh is the jar. Bánh phồng tôm is the cracker from Năm Căn, also sold under the Mũi Cà Mau mark. Chuối khô Trần Hợi, dưa bồn bồn Cái Nước, and rượu trái giác are the other gifts.
U Minh Hạ
Melaleuca honey taken from gác kèo ong, the rafters set up to draw the bees. Eat it by the spoon or carry a jar home.
Năm Căn
The shrimp cracker of the fishing town on the road to the cape, a crisp snack and a bag to carry.
Cái Nước
Pickled bồn bồn, the cattail of Cái Nước. Eat it with rice or carry a jar home.
Trần Hợi
Dried banana under the Trần Hợi collective mark, the sweet on the gift list.
Ruou trai giac Rượu trái giác
A spirit made from giác fruit, on the Cà Mau list of gifts to carry home.
A ride away
Cần Thơ is the previous stop on the expressway, and its dawn market is a different river. Do not order a Cần Thơ, Bến Tre, or Châu Đốc recipe and call it this cape.
Casual dining
UNESCO describes a floating market of hundreds of boats on the Gành Hào, in the center of Cà Mau city. Come to move among the produce boats, or watch from the bank. This is not the Cần Thơ dawn.
Rạch Gốc is the town where the salted crab gets its name. Eat ba khía there with hot rice on the way to the cape.
Ca Mau floating market Chợ nổi Cà Mau
Sông Gành Hào, city center
Boats loaded with produce on the Gành Hào, in the middle of the city. Move among them by boat or watch from the bank.
Rach Goc Rạch Gốc
Khóm 8, thị trấn Rạch Gốc, huyện Ngọc Hiển in the 2024 culture-office listing; later cape listings say xã Đất Mũi.
The town of the salted mangrove crab. Eat ba khía muối with hot rice on the cape day.