Bún Quậy Kiến Xây — 28 Bạch Đằng

From a bowl of Bình Định shrimp noodles

Bún quậy has its roots in bún tôm, a humble dish from Bình Định: fresh rice noodles, pounded shrimp, served unseasoned and seasoned by the eater. The family of Mr. Trần Quang Sung brought the dish from Bình Định to Phú Quốc. Once on the island, the bowl no longer held only shrimp: people added squid, fish cakes and shrimp cakes made from local seafood, and seasoned it to island tastes.

The dish appeared in Phú Quốc in the mid-1990s. In 1995, a bowl cost two thousand dong. More than twenty years ago, the family's shop had no sign yet and sold only to neighbours around the house. Today Kiến Xây is the island's oldest bún quậy shop, and the shop near Dinh Cậu is the place Phú Quốc people regard as the first to sell this dish.

The name "quậy" (to stir) was given by Phú Quốc people themselves. At this shop, every step involves stirring: stir the dipping-sauce bowl until the seasonings dissolve, then stir the noodle bowl so the sauce blends into the broth.

Noodles pressed right over the boiling pot

Kiến Xây does not buy noodles at the market. The rice is soaked soft, ground fine and shaped into blocks of dough. The dough goes into a press, and the noodles fall straight into the pot of boiling water, so the strands are thin, soft, clear and slightly chewy. The noodles are not boiled in advance; they are pressed when a customer orders.

The fish cakes, shrimp cakes and squid are all made by hand at the shop. The fish cake is made from herring. The raw cake is spread thin around the wall of the bowl, then the noodles and hot broth are ladled in so the cake cooks just right. On top go spring onion, coriander and a pinch of Phú Quốc pepper.

The broth here is not seasoned and has no colouring, just the water the noodles and seafood were boiled in, ivory white, lightly sweet and fragrant with pepper. The salty, sour and spicy all sit in the dipping-sauce bowl that customers mix themselves. Besides the full bowl with squid, fish cake and shrimp cake, customers can order extra sliced herring or beef.

Mix it, carry it, stir it yourself

Customers order and pay at the counter first, receive a numbered card with their name called, then do almost every step themselves except pressing the noodles. The open kitchen is right near the door, so while you wait you can stand and watch the noodles fall into the pot and the cake being spread into the bowl. The menu has drawings, and a poster on the wall explains how to eat in Vietnamese and English.

In the middle of the shop is the dipping-sauce station: salt, MSG, sugar, ground chili, kumquat and pepper in separate pots. Each person scoops into a bowl to their own taste, mild or hot, with MSG or without, then stirs until the seasonings dissolve and the bowl turns orange-red. Staff stand nearby to show newcomers how.

Carry the bowl back to your table, pour a big spoonful of the sauce into the noodles, about a third of the bowl, stir well and eat while hot. Keep the rest for dipping the cakes and squid piece by piece. The bowl comes out unseasoned, so do not skip this step.

Busy from the morning

Bún quậy was originally a breakfast dish; now the shop sells all day until late. The busiest time is eight to ten in the morning, when nearly a hundred seats are full. Customers queue at the ordering counter, jostle at the dipping-sauce station, and some wander right into the kitchen area; on a hot day, a short wait is enough to leave you drenched in sweat.

From a small shop with no sign, Kiến Xây has become a chain: more shops on the island, then on the mainland in Rạch Giá and Ho Chi Minh City.