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Bún Quậy (wẹi) means "stirring rice noodles". It's a Phu Quoc specialty food with roots in Bình Định - a province in the central coastal region of Vietnam.
Bún Quậy is a perfect combination of soft, chewy rice noodles with fresh seafood toppings and a special dipping sauce. You certainly will regret missing this seafood rice noodle soup when traveling to Phu Quoc island.
However, many tourists were extremely disappointed after eating this Phu Quoc rice noodle. They said that the soup was bland, and not as tasty as other Vietnamese rice noodles. All because you ate it the wrong way.
The name bún Quậy (stirring rice noodles) refers to the actions necessary - stirring rice noodles with broth, stirring all the ingredients in a dipping sauce cup, and mixing the dipping sauce into the broth, which ties the dish together.
Moreover, the dipping sauce usually only adds to the flavor. But for bún Quậy, the dipping sauce is the most important part.
Therefore you have to enjoy it the right way to feel it the best. Let John's Tours show you how to eat bún Quậy properly.
To enjoy a delicious bowl of bún Quậy, you must choose a quality eatery. Phu Quoc has a lot of bún Quậy shops, so you can easily find one. However, you should note that most of these shops are in the center of Phu Quoc Island - Duong Dong ward.
Some bún Quậy eateries I suggest are Kiến Xây, Bình Dung, Thanh Hùng, and Hải Ngân.
This is the most important step. You have to make the dipping sauce yourselves.
Each Phu Quoc bún Quậy shop has a counter consisting of five ingredients: kalamansi juice, sugar, chili, salt, and monosodium glutamate (MSG).
Diners put these components according to their taste into a cup and mix them to create their dipping sauce. The dip hits all the taste buds: sweet, salty, spicy, sour, and umami.
Many tourists do not know that they have to make the dip themselves and they skip this step, so bún Quậy is much less delicious. Making the dipping sauce looks simple, but you need a recipe to make an incredible dip.
According to my experience, the dipping sauce is the best when it is milky orange in color and viscous. The more opaque the dip is, the tastier. The recipe for dipping sauce will be:
Salt with sugar in the ratio of 1:3
Little monosodium glutamate
Kalamansi juice to completely cover the seasoning (remove the seeds to avoid bitterness)
Chili according to your taste
Stir this mixture well and wait for your dish.
Once you get used to making the dip, you can change the above recipe to suit your taste best.
There is a useful tip for new diners who want to make their own dipping sauce properly is to see how the locals or gourmets make the dip and imitate them.
To save time, you can get the ready mix that the staff has prepared, add kalamansi juice and stir it well. Then try it and add ingredients to your appetite.
This step is equally important. You have to make the dipping sauce work in the best way.
Try the broth first, then stir a spoonful of the dip into your bowl and let the flavors imbue the broth. While enjoying this dish, pour a little over noodles and seafood, or dip noodles and toppings into the dipping sauce.
When you follow these above steps, bún Quậy is no longer bland. The dipping sauce ties everything together and flavors the natural aroma and sweetness of the dish.
1. They make the rice noodles right in the restaurant. They assemble the dough into the noodle presser and press it into the boiling water pot below. Then they will pour that hot water into the seafood in the bowl. Therefore, you should eat bún Quậy right at the eatery.
If you take it away, the deliciousness is no longer as good as when eating immediately in the restaurant.
2. Inform the cashier when you order if you can't eat green onions, have allergies to MSG, or any ingredients.
3. If a portion of bún Quậy can not fill you, you can order more seafood such as squid, fishcake, and shrimp cake. Squid is the famous seafood of Phu Quoc, fresh, crispy, and sweet.
You can also try your hand at becoming a night squid fisherman, and admire the sunset on the sea with Sunset & Night Squid Fishing Trip. For more information and book a tour, please click HERE.
4. The bún Quậy restaurant will have an open kitchen, so it's a bit hot in the indoor area. You can choose a table outside to keep cool and watch the street.
5. After making the dipping sauce, you should take 2-3 more kalamansis. Adding to the broth and sugarcane juice will make your dish and drink much better.
6. Sugarcane juice is the drink that comes with bún Quậy. Because shrimp cake and fish cake have pepper and chili, the broth is hot, so you will easily choke to reek. Therefore, a glass of sugarcane juice will be essential.
John's Tours hopes that with this article, you will enjoy bún Quậy in the best way.
If you need Phu Quoc travel advice, book flight tickets, hotel, and tour, CONTACT John's Tours now.
Those who are wondering where to eat in Phu Quoc, which restaurants are good in Phu Quoc, or what to eat when traveling in Phu Quoc, you can refer to the list of good restaurants in Phu Quoc that John's Tours summarized.
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