Tuna eye Mắt cá ngừ đại dương
The eye of an ocean tuna that often weighs 40–50 kg, stewed in a small clay pot with thuốc bắc. It is sweet and fatty, with the nuttiness of the herbs and the heat of lemongrass and chilli.
Food tours Tuna eye Search a food tour or a cooking class for this dish.
Search on KlookWhy it matters
Cooks in Tuy Hòa once threw the eye away, then started cooking it because it was so large. It is eaten as a snack rather than with rice, and a hearty eater manages about two portions.
In 2017 the eye stewed with thuốc bắc was named on a Vietnam-records food list. Tổ chức Kỷ lục Việt Nam later put it, with gà nướng Sông Cầu, in a Top 100 of Vietnamese dishes.
Texture
The fish is large, so the eye is too, and it arrives in a small clay pot.
Taste
A sweet, fatty eye with the nuttiness of thuốc bắc, herbs, and the heat of lemongrass and chilli. Some cooks add vegetables and táo tàu to the pot.
How to enjoy it
The eye goes into the pot with thuốc bắc, onion, garlic, and chilli, and an alcohol burner keeps it hot at the table. It is also steamed with spices or made into soup, but the thuốc bắc pot is the famous one.
Where to try it
Lê Duẩn and the bờ kè Bạch Đằng riverbank, and the corner of Điện Biên Phủ and Lê Duẩn.