Food File: Nhum Nuong (Barbecued Sea Urchin)

We settle into the tiny plastic chairs at the only restaurant in Nhon Hai, a picturesque fishing village just outside of Quy Nhon on Vietnam’s central coast.

The restaurant is actually someone’s back patio. That someone is Thang, who beams as he presents us with the fancy-pants menu: two laminated pages of colourful photos.

Off to one side of the restaurant, down on the beach, a couple of guys are cracking open sea urchins.

I see a picture of sea urchins on the menu, labeled nhum, and get very excited.

“These!” I squeak, bouncing in my tiny chair. “Let’s eat these. They’ve got to be fresh!”

Thang’s face falls. He waggles his hands under his ears and says “hết“. Finished. Thang is sold out of nhum.

My mouth falls open and says “but ….”

And I point down the beach. I can’t find any Vietnamese words.

Thang looks a bit sheepish.

Darling Man takes charge. He goes down to chat to the guys on the beach. He brokers a deal. And soon we are tucking into barbecued fresh-from-the-ocean sea urchin.

They tasted like barbecued seafood paste made from scallop tongue (you know, the orange bit). Darling Man loved them, I only liked them.

* If you’re ever in Nhon Hai, you can get to Thang’s restaurant by taking the main (and only) access road to Nhon Hai until you get to the main street. Go down onto the beach, start walking left until you see a small sign that says “Cafe Giai Khat NINA”. If you speak Vietnamese, you can ask any local where “the” restaurant is and they’ll point you in the right direction.

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By: Barbara

A career girl who dropped out, traveled, found love, and never got around to going home again. Now wrangling a cross-cultural relationship and two third culture kids.