Vietnamese Sea Urchins: Three Ways to Eat Them

Sea urchin is one of Vietnam’s street foods, and one that many people want to try, especially foreign tourists. It is cooked into rice soup, grilled, or even eaten alive.

Where sea urchins come from

In Vietnam, sea urchins usually live along the beaches of Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan and Phu Quoc. They are eaten many ways: alive with green field cabbage and mustard sauce, cooked with rice soup, or grilled with spring onion. Here are those three dishes.

1. Sea urchin with rice soup

This one is easy to cook, but it is only at its best when the sea urchins are fresh. There is a lot of meat and eggs inside a sea urchin. Use a knife or spoon to take them out, then marinate them with seasonings.

Fry the mixture in a pan for 1 or 2 minutes. Pour it all into the boiling rice soup, taste it again, and it’s ready.

2. Sea urchin eaten alive

Like other street food, it is very simple to make. Most people eat it with green field cabbage and mustard sauce, or with a salt, pepper and lime dip.

Once the sea urchin is caught, cut it in half and clean it. Put the meat into a bowl, add a little lime and mustard sauce, stir, and eat it with the green field cabbage. If you can’t eat mustard, use the salt, pepper and lime dip instead.

3. Grilled sea urchin with spring onion

If you love grilled seafood, this is the one for you, and it’s quick to make. After cleaning the sea urchin, cut it in half with scissors and add a little olive oil and spring onion. Grill it until it turns yellow and smells fragrant. A little salt, pepper and lime dip adds more flavour.

You can find sea urchin dishes all over Ho Chi Minh City, especially at street food restaurants.