Visiting my paternal hometown in Nam Dan, we enjoyed Nghe An specialties such as eel soup, stir-fried frog with green eggplant, rice porridge, grilled squid from Cua Lo… which were quite delicious. However, our favorite dishes were dishes made from climbing perch.
A bowl of sour soup with climbing perch with many eye-catching colors
Aunt Ngan (living in Nam Dan town) said that during the first rains of the season, the water from Lam River rose, and river fish swam with the water into the fields.
People gathered to sell freshwater fish at Sa Nam market (Nam Dan town), so my aunt was able to buy quite a large climbing fish.
The climbing fish is a type of catfish, with gray or slightly brown skin, often living in waterfalls or places with fast flowing water. The fish has a long, flat body. The head is relatively large, flat at the snout. The mouth is wide, with two pairs of whiskers on the upper and lower jaws.
Climbing fish bought at Sa Nam market
An old fisherman who specializes in catching climbing fish on the Lam River said that this species of fish has a very strange characteristic. Every time they "pair up", they climb into shallow streams or onto rice fields to play. On bright moonlit nights, the climbing fish happily play in the water.
Climbing fish porridge
Aunt Ngan used a knife to scrape off all the slime on the fish skin, remove the gills, remove the intestines, leaving only the two ovaries, and washed and drained. Then marinate with spices such as crushed ginger, ground pepper, seasoning powder, and shallots for 10 minutes to absorb.
Fry cooking oil with shallots until fragrant, then add marinated climbing perch and stir a few times, then add enough boiling water with rice or sticky rice and cook for about an hour until the porridge is cooked. Remove the pot of porridge from the heat, season to taste and add herbs.
The climbing perch porridge cooked by Aunt Ngan is delicious.
The meat of the climbing fish is sweet and rich, boneless, so when eating, you just need to hold the fish head, use chopsticks to grab it and pull it out, all the fish meat is in the bowl, on the chopsticks there is only the fish head and bones.
Climbing fish is very good for sick people, the elderly, children, pregnant women... When cooked, climbing fish eggs are turmeric yellow, small but chewy, fragrant, rich and fatty. Once eaten, its flavor is unforgettable!
Braised climbing perch with pickled cucumber
Braised climbing perch with pickled cabbage is easy to prepare, but to make it delicious, you have to be more meticulous. Aunt Ngan washed the pickled cabbage until it was golden yellow with water to reduce the saltiness. After squeezing the water out, she cut the cabbage and arranged it at the bottom of the pot.
Aunt Ngan cooks braised climbing perch with pickled cabbage.
Cut climbing fish into pieces, marinate with MSG, fish sauce, sugar, a few green or red chili peppers; lightly crushed shallots, ground pepper. Spread all over the fish, add a few spoons of peanut oil to make the fish fragrant.
Marinate for about 10 minutes, put the fish pot on the stove, turn on low heat to let the fish absorb the spices. When the aroma of the fish spreads, add a little boiling water, cover and simmer until the water is almost dry, then remove from heat.
Braised climbing perch with pickled cabbage is attractive because of the sweet, fatty, fragrant taste of the fish mixed with the mild spiciness of chili, pepper and the sour taste of pickled cabbage.
Steamed climbing fish with lemongrass
After cleaning the climbing fish, use a knife to make a few cuts on the fish's body and put the fish in a large bowl, then add a few shallots, a little soy sauce, a little oyster sauce, seasoning powder, and pepper.
Marinate the fish for about 20 minutes to let the fish absorb the spices. Prepare a pan with a little cooking oil, then wait for the oil to heat up and stir-fry the vermicelli, wood ear mushrooms (soaked in water) and onions (cut) for about 5 minutes.
Add ginger and green onions to the fish marinade bowl. Then add a pot of water with a few lemongrass stalks and steam for about 15 minutes, then add the noodles and stir-fried mushrooms and steam for another 5 minutes.
Fish sauce is made from a little minced lemongrass and chopped chili. After steaming the fish, serve it on a tray with rice paper and raw vegetables, which is very delicious.
Ingredients for cooking sour fish soup
Sour climbing fish soup
For the sour soup, wash the climbing fish with salt water to remove the slime, cut into 2cm thick slices. Marinate the fish with pepper, shallots and thinly sliced ripe chili with a little fish sauce for about 15 minutes to absorb. The climbing fish is fried in hot oil with shallots for fragrance.
Add enough broth to fill the pot. Continue adding ingredients such as star fruit, banana seeds, pineapple, tomatoes, pickled bamboo shoots, and sweet taro stems and cook for about 10 minutes until the pot of soup is cooked and steaming with a fragrant aroma.
There's nothing like the whole family gathering around a pot of hot rice and a bowl of steaming sour fish soup in the cool autumn breeze.
The soup will be more delicious when adding a little Nghe shrimp paste when cooking. Ladle the soup into a bowl and add some green onions, parsley, and Vietnamese coriander. The soup is so delicious and attractive that anyone who has enjoyed it once will never forget it!
That's why people from Nghe An far away from home, when they miss their hometown, will crave to eat the dish: "Sour soup cooked with climbing perch / I eat a bowl, whether sad or happy".
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/canh-chua-nau-ca-leo-nguon-anh-an-mot-chen-co-buon-cung-vui-20250311100859621.htm
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