The coastal Phan Thiet city is famous for fresh and sweet-tasty seawater fishes as well as various excellent recipes from them. One of the must-eat dishes in Phan Thiet is Hot pot with four-eyed sleeper (Lẩu cá bớp, Lau ca bop). This kind of food is so popular that it can be found not only in luxury restaurants but street food stalls on the streets. The rich, tasty, colorful, comfortable and healthy Lau ca bop is a good choice to eat with your family and friends. Coming to the city, travelers should not miss this hot pot.
Four-eyed sleeper flesh is white, sweet-tasty so that it is used to cook various delicious dishes such as Fried four-eyed sleeper, Soup with four-eyed sleeper and bamboo shoot, Soup with four-eyed sleeper and star-fruit, Braised four-eyed sleeper with black pepper, Rice noodle soup with four-eyed sleeper, Grilled four-eyed sleeper with eggplant, Grilled four-eyed sleeper with salt and chili, Steamed four-eyed sleeper. Although there are tens of Vietnamese hot pot recipes, Hot pot with four-eyed sleeper with typical taste has attracted lots of people coming to Phan Thiet city to enjoy it.
Hot pot with four-eyed sleeper is a quick and easy recipe. However, the cook must choose the best ingredients for this dish. The fish must be freshly-caught and have firm flesh. Prepare the fishes and cut them into chunks. Heat the oil in a pan, fry garlic until smelling, crispy and yellow, add the fish chunks and stir-fry them for a while.
Stir-fry garlic, tomato, tamarind sauce until well-done, add pork broth and cook until boiling, season the broth with spices. Dinner cooks fishes and vegetables himself at the table when eating the hot pot. To eat, add four-eyed sleeper to the broth which is kept simmering on an oven, cook until the fishes well-done. Add vegetables (wild mint, okra, pineapple, tomato, shredded morning glory, shredded banana blossom, bean sprouts, etc.) to the pork. The diner should not cook the vegetables for too long so that they are still juicy, crunchy and keep vitamins. Hot pot with four-eyed sleeper is eaten with steamed rice or rice noodle. Fish sauce is also served so that diner can dip fishes, vegetables while eating or add to the broth to make it saltier.
Hot pot with four-eyed sleeper’s broth is salty and sour so that it really whets your appetite. Four-eyed sleeper is the soul of this hot pot, its sweet-tasty and tender flesh satisfy most of the ages, even with strict gourmets. Fresh vegetables make the hot pot healthy, comfort and bewitched.
