Ca Mau Coming to U Minh Ha area, visitors will enjoy grilled snakehead fish, eaten with their hands in the style of the people of the land.
Ca Mau Cape (the southernmost point of Vietnam) is located in the Mekong Delta, owns U Minh Ha Melaleuca forest, adjacent to U Minh Thuong (Kien Giang). Ca Mau people mainly develop aquaculture and fishing, so there are many fish dishes. Grilled snakehead fish with a simple preparation method bearing the typical flavor of the Southern countryside is one of them.
Mr. Giang Hoang Hon, owner of Huong Tram restaurant in U Minh Ha, said the name grilled snakehead fish comes from the way it is prepared. "The fish is kept in a pile of straw, its head is stuck in the ground, its tail is facing up, so it is called grilled snakehead fish," Mr. Hon said.
Grilled snakehead fish is a rustic specialty of the U Minh Ha region.
The main ingredient of the fish dish is wild snakehead fish caught in the rivers and canals of the U Minh region. Mr. Hon said that snakehead fish that are eligible for exploitation must weigh at least 400 grams. The fish is most delicious during the rainy season, from about June to October of the lunar calendar. At this time, the water rises, there is a lot of food, so the fish are fat and firm. This is also the breeding season, so there are eggs, the part that many tourists love.
The special thing about this dish is that the fish does not need to be processed, leaving the scales and intestines intact. The fish only needs to be washed to remove the slime, then skewered from mouth to tail with fresh bamboo sticks and grilled with dry straw.
The fish skewers are stuck into the ground, with the ends facing up, then the fish is covered with dry straw and lit to grill. Straw is added continuously to maintain the heat. After about 12-15 minutes, the fish is just cooked. Timing is very important, because if the fish is overcooked, it will dry out and lose its sweetness, and if it is undercooked, it will become mushy and fishy.
After the straw burns, the whole fish will be black. People who see it for the first time often mistake it for a burnt, inedible fish. However, when using a knife to scrape off the burnt skin, the meat will be grilled until golden brown. Continue to make another cut on the back of the fish, smoke and the characteristic aroma of straw will spread out, revealing the soft, cooked white meat.
The cooked fish is arranged on a plate lined with banana leaves. The fish meat is firm and still retains its moisture, with a sweet and rich taste. Smelling carefully, you will notice a faint scent of burnt straw, helping diners feel the taste of the countryside, without the fishy smell.
Visitors can sprinkle scallion oil to enhance the flavor of the dish. The fish is rolled with lettuce and some wild vegetables such as mustard leaves, coriander, green banana and dipped in chili salt. Southerners often use coarse salt, made directly from seawater instead of finely ground salt like the North. In addition, visitors can also enjoy grilled snakehead fish with sweet and sour tamarind fish sauce.
Mr. Hon said that for grilled snakehead fish, the fish's intestines are the most delicious, but not everyone can enjoy them. The fish's intestines have a slightly bitter taste of bile. The cooked fish meat is soft, has a sweet taste, and retains moisture so it is not dry. When dipped in chili salt, the saltiness of the salt blends with the sweet taste of the meat and the slight bitterness of the fish's intestines, impressing diners from the first bite.
Fish meat after being grilled.
Nguyen The Nam (24 years old, Vinh Phuc), said that this was the first time he enjoyed grilled snakehead fish in the U Minh Ha region and ate it with his hands, making the dish "both rustic and different". Many restaurants have put grilled snakehead fish on their menus as a specialty of Ca Mau.
Article and photos: Quynh Mai
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