EAT THE EYE OF OCEAN TUNA FROM NHON, DO YOU DARE?

Once visiting Quy Nhon, I mustered up the courage to taste ocean tuna eyes at the enthusiastic invitation of a local brother, and I felt it was worthy of my courage. Tuna eyes are a delicious and extremely unique local specialty.
In addition, ocean tuna eyes are also a nutritious food with unbelievable benefits.

Quy Nhon tuna eyes are an unbelievably delicious specialty

The South Central Coast of our country is considered the capital of ocean tuna, or locally known as humpback fish. These fish often migrate seasonally, in schools and are only found in deep waters. The characteristic feature is that the meat is very delicious, nutritious and they also have very large and bright eyes. That’s why tuna eyes are also considered by people as “headlights of the sea”.
For tuna weighing 40-50kg, their eyes are equivalent to the size of a tennis ball and weigh about 100-300g. The fruit is “giant” compared to the eyes of other fish.
Quy Nhon ocean tuna is a specialty that brings high economic value and creates many unique and attractive dishes. Many countries around the world also love this type of fish. However, they only use fish meat to prepare food, most commonly to make canned food, sashimi or sushi. Vietnam is one of the very few countries that uses tuna eyes to make a famous dish that not everyone dares to taste at first sight.

Tuna eyes are a famous specialty of Phu Yen

Tuna eye dish is actually a “monopoly” invention of Phu Yen people. Initially, when people first learned about this type of fish, people were not yet proficient in processing and preparation techniques, so the fish was not delicious or fishy. Especially the first part, they often leave it out because they have very large, scary eyes. Then, some people tried to fight waste, specifically the old fishermen, they tried taking fish eyes as bait for drinking. It wasn’t until 1999 that they learned how to steam fish eyes with many spices, and the results were surprisingly delicious. Eat it once and you’ll be excited forever.
Until now, tuna eyes have become a unique specialty of central coastal areas such as Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa. Especially the ocean tuna eye dish stewed with Chinese medicine.
For tuna weighing 40-50kg, their eyes are equivalent to the size of a tennis ball and weigh about 100-300g. The fruit is “giant” compared to the eyes of other fish.
Quy Nhon ocean tuna is a specialty that brings high economic value and creates many unique and attractive dishes. Many countries around the world also love this type of fish. However, they only use fish meat to prepare food, most commonly to make canned food, sashimi or sushi. Vietnam is one of the very few countries that uses tuna eyes to make a famous dish that not everyone dares to taste at first sight.

Tuna eyes are very nutritious

Besides the delicious, greasy and strange taste. Tuna eyes also contain many nutritional values, which are very beneficial for our health. As the old saying goes, “what you eat is nutritious”. According to science, the reason is because of the nutrients contained in tuna eyes:
First, it is extremely high in Omega 3, so it is very good for our eyes. Especially those who are suffering from dry eyes, macular degeneration, and eye disorders.
Fish eyes also contain a lot of DHA, an important fatty acid for the development of the brain, nerves and retina. Helps promote the regeneration of brain cells, improving and preventing the risk of dementia.
If you regularly add tuna eyes and ocean tuna meat to your daily menu, it will also help your body reduce bad cholesterol, enhance liver function, and prevent iron deficiency anemia very effectively.

How to prepare tuna eyes

To get delicious tuna eye bowls, people often harvest eyes from fish weighing 40kg or more. With fish this large in size, the fish’s eye, if the entire rim of meat is taken out, can be as big as a bowl of rice. The characteristic of ocean tuna eyes is that they have little meat, crispy cartilage, and a strangely greasy flavor. If you want to prepare delicious dishes from fish eyes, the preliminary processing stage is very important. Because it is not done carefully, the fish eyes can have a fishy taste that is quite unpleasant.
To remove the fishy taste, people often blanch the fish eyes with boiling salt water, then wash them, remove the veins and then steam them with pandan leaves, lemongrass, and ginger so that the fish eyes are fully fragrant and no longer has a fishy taste. Depending on each dish, the fish eyes will continue to be marinated with different ingredients and spices.
In addition, to have perfect fish eyes, fishermen must also be very careful during fishing and handling fish on the boat. Because if the fish struggles or the hook hits the eye, this part is no longer valuable.

Delicious dishes from Quy Nhon tuna eyes

To be honest, when looking at the pair of sparkling “eyeballs” in the steaming bowl for the first time, everyone probably felt uneasy. However, with skillful processing and delicate presentation, ocean tuna eyes after being cooked are irresistibly attractive. This dish can make culinary critics nod because of the unforgettable rich coastal flavor it brings.
And when you want to taste Quy Nhon tuna eyes, you should start with the following 3 most typical dishes:
Ocean tuna eyes stewed with Chinese medicine
In 2014, tuna eye dish stewed with traditional Chinese medicine was ranked in the top 10 famous Vietnamese specialties voted by the Vietnam Record Holders Association.
Tuna eyes stewed with traditional Chinese medicine have a rich, sweet, fatty taste that melts in the mouth. Due to being combined with medicinal herbs, the fishy smell of fish eyes is completely overwhelmed, leaving only the medicinal aroma, along with the aroma of ginger, purple onions and other spices. With this dish, the fish eyes are often stewed in small ceramic jars/bowls, simmered over an alcohol stove, while eating and maintaining the heat so the dish is always hot and not cold. Ocean tuna eyes stewed with Chinese medicine are often served with finely chopped green cabbage, hot and crispy grilled rice paper and 1 cup of spicy soy sauce. On days when it’s drizzling or the sea breeze is chilly, it’s perfect to sit and sip this dish.

Tuna eyes stewed with green pepper

If you want to eat tuna eyes but can’t stand the taste of Chinese medicine, you can still enjoy “sea headlights” in another equally attractive preparation method: stewed tuna eyes with pepper. green.
The main flavor of this dish is determined by the bunches of fresh green pepper. When stewed, green pepper will have a special strong aroma and a warm spicy taste, not as pungent as dried pepper. It is the characteristic spiciness of green pepper that helps eliminate the fishy smell of fish eyes, balances the fat, and stimulates your taste buds and sense of smell. Besides green pepper, this stew also has many other ingredients to make the stew more flavorful such as carrots, green peppers, white radishes and many other seasonings.
Fatty fish eyes, crispy cartilage, sweet broth mixed with a little spicy taste, awakening all senses when eaten.
Tuna eye hotpot
If you come to Quy Nhon with friends or relatives, there is nothing more suitable than a delicious hot tuna eye hot pot.
Let’s gather together and feel the soft, fatty flavor mixed with the sweet and sour taste of tomatoes and hot pot broth. Served with vermicelli and raw vegetables will make your travel journey more flavorful and unforgettable than ever.

Compare tuna eye dishes in Phu Yen and Quy Nhon

There is a question that many people are interested in: Quy Nhon tuna eyes or Phu Yen tuna eyes, which is better?
Actually, this comparison cannot work. Because culinary perception or evaluation cannot be based on region or geography. It depends on your culinary taste, your taste buds, the standards of ingredients and the chef’s recipe.
Many people will say that Phu Yen tuna eyes are very “hot” online. This doesn’t mean it’s better than Quy Nhon. Let me tell you one thing, whether it is Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa or Quy Nhon, the fish eyes are all exploited from a single type of tuna, which is bigeye yellowfin tuna. Phu Yen tuna eyes are more famous than other regions, because this is where the history of making this dish originated. Other localities learn from it and create their own unique recipes.
Therefore, we should not compare the tuna eye dishes of different localities, but try to find places where we can eat the most delicious tuna eye dishes.

What is the selling price of Quy Nhon tuna eyes?

Another surprising thing is that nowadays, you only need to spend about 50,000 – 65,000 VND to enjoy famous specialties from near and far. This is quite a reasonable price for a bowl of tuna eyes stewed with Chinese medicine or green pepper in Quy Nhon, with big, shiny and plump fish eyes, just eating one portion will make you ecstatic.
In addition, you can also buy fresh Quy Nhon tuna eyes to prepare dishes at home. With prices fluctuating around 110,000 – 140,000 VND/1kg depending on the time, 1kg of fish eyes has about 5-7 fish depending on the weight. You can buy fresh fish eyes in Quy Nhon or places that catch tuna.
In other localities, this raw material source is quite rare, because most of the fish eye after exploitation is consumed in the home province, rarely enough to export according to foreign demand.

Where is the best place to eat Quy Nhon tuna eyes?

Because it is difficult to buy ocean tuna eyes in other places, when you come to Quy Nhon you must definitely taste this unique flavor. Otherwise it would be a “waste of heaven”.
There are countless ocean tuna specialty restaurants in Quy Nhon, from affordable to high-end. However, to eat the best tuna eyes, you should go to Ms. Thuan’s tuna restaurant.
Thuan Quy Nhon’s ocean tuna eyes are the culinary quintessence of this land. Unlike other places, whole ocean tuna is butchered and processed right at Ms. Thuan’s restaurant, so the ingredients are always fresh and hygienic. Each bowl of fish eye is always served hot, the stew is rich thanks to the exclusive and unmistakable recipe. Opening the simmering bowl, a scent spread throughout the country. The chef’s hands skillfully arranged the dish, so the dish was not at all scary as “people” said. Meets the full combo of hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling. When you use a spoon to roll up part of the corner of your eye, scoop up the passionate fragrance. On the tip of the tongue, it has a fatty taste without being greasy, with a strange crunchiness, mixed with the fragrant aroma of Chinese medicine. Fancy, mouth-watering and leaves a very unforgettable impression.
And when you go to Ms. Thuan’s ocean tuna restaurant, you can’t always eat tuna eyes. Because the restaurant is crowded, the source of these ingredients is limited, the dish is famous, whether you can eat it or not depends on luck. However, you can call in advance to book a table. To eat the unique Quy Nhon tuna eyes, it is worth the effort.