Everyone says grass carp is fishy, ​​but in this village of Thai Binh, people catch it and make it into grass carp salad, some people eat it with gusto.

Vu Thang Commune (Kien Xuong District, Thai Binh Province) is famous for its grass carp salad. Each piece of fresh fish is covered with a layer of finely ground galangal, the elaborate preparation brings a unique flavor, attracting many tourists to come and enjoy.

About Vu Thang commune, Kien Xuong district (Thai Binh province), what impressed me most was the warmth and hospitality of the people, where there is a rustic carp salad dish with a very unique hometown flavor.

Fish salad is prepared in many places with many different ways, but the way people in Vu Thang commune make and prepare it is the most famous and delicious.

No one knows when this rustic dish first appeared, but when mentioning silver carp salad, visitors immediately think of Vu Thang commune.

I went to Mrs. Bui Thi Duyen's family in village 4, Vu Thang commune, who was introduced by locals as a household specializing in making famous carp salad that is popular in and outside the commune, to enjoy this unique delicacy.

To create this specialty, the fish salad makers in Vu Thang must be meticulous in every step, from choosing the fish to the processing method, choosing the vegetables to eat with it, and making the dipping sauce.

Fish used to make salad is usually silver carp, it must be fresh, live fish, choose fish with firm flesh in the middle, easy to cut into small pieces 2 - 3cm long, washed with galangal water. After cutting, the fish must be mixed immediately with galangal to remove the fishy smell and keep the fish fresh and delicious.

Preparing grass carp salad - a countryside specialty in Vu Thang commune (Kien Xuong district, Thai Binh province).

When asked about the secret to creating the unique deliciousness of Vu Thang carp salad, Ms. Duyen said: The way to prepare carp salad in many places is also diverse and elaborate. In addition to choosing and preparing the fish well, the dipping sauce, also known as vinegar, of Vu Thang carp salad is even more special.

Fermented rice vinegar is made from minced pork belly, combined with fermented rice that must be fragrant and sour enough, finely ground galangal and spices to taste, cooked and buried in charcoal and rice husks for many hours, mixed with peanuts and roasted sesame seeds to create a smooth, delicious, slightly sour and slightly sweet fermented rice vinegar.

To balance the cold taste in the dish, grass carp salad is eaten with indispensable herbs found in the home garden: hairy dream leaves, vông cách, dai bi, fig leaves, khoai thuy, lemon leaves, and ginseng.

The leaves of the Vong Cach plant are grown in large quantities in Vu Thang commune, and have a more fragrant aroma than in other regions. They are an indispensable ingredient in fish salad. People in Vu Thang tell each other that when they go out into the garden and smell the fragrance of the Vong Cach leaves, they immediately think of grass carp salad.

Grass carp salad is eaten with herbs such as hairy perilla leaves, fig leaves, ginseng leaves, cassia leaves... and dipped in vinegar.

Ms. Duyen shared more: Like many other households in the commune, my family used to only make traditional carp salad to entertain guests, but due to the increasing demand of tourists from all over coming to Vu Thang to enjoy this specialty, in 2003 my family switched to making carp salad to serve the daily needs of customers, which is also the main income of the family.

Every day I sell 30 - 40 servings of silver carp salad, on weekends or holidays I sell 70 - 80 servings/day, priced at 60,000 VND/serving, earning 20 - 30 million VND/month.

I make the salad as soon as the customer orders it to ensure that the salad is always fresh and delicious when it reaches the customer. Not only my family but many other households in the commune also specialize in making salad to serve customers inside and outside the commune, in addition to bringing income to the family, it also helps people preserve the rustic dishes left by their ancestors.

Clean and guaranteed spices are taken care of and picked directly from home gardens.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tam, village 4, Vu Thang commune is nearly 90 years old but still has not forgotten how to make carp salad. Mrs. Tam said: This carp salad has been around for a long time, since the time my father's father made carp salad, so everyone in Vu Thang knows how to make this salad.

Pick fig leaves to eat with grass carp salad.

In the past, fish salad was often made in the third lunar month; in hot weather, eating fish salad was very refreshing, combined with leaves from the garden, all of which are medicinal leaves, especially the leaves of the Chinese clematis, which help digestion. In the cold season, it was no longer made. Making fish salad required a lot of effort, care, and leisure, so during the off-season, people often made it to entertain guests. Now people eat fish salad all year round, with the galangal grinder, it is much more leisurely than before.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Son, who is living in Nam Tu Liem district (Hanoi), shared: In the past, whenever we had guests, my father often made carp salad to treat them. The fresh, firm white fish pieces were mixed with fragrant ground galangal, wrapped with 7-8 leaves of various spices, and the sour vinegar in the middle made anyone who enjoyed it exclaim and remember the taste forever. Every time I had the opportunity to return to my hometown, I bought carp salad with the taste of my hometown to treat my friends. The first time I ate it, I was not used to it, but once I ate it, I would not forget the delicious and harmonious taste.

Vu Thang carp salad is made from familiar ingredients of the countryside, becoming a familiar dish of the people here.

A rustic dish but not sloppy, from the steps of choosing ingredients, processing to enjoying, Vu Thang carp salad brings meticulousness, carefulness and sophistication.

Making spring rolls also requires skillful arrangement of the spices, rolled into a funnel shape, with thin slices of fish placed inside, and vinegar poured over the funnel. The fresh taste of the fish, the strong aroma of ground galangal, the taste of the spices combined with the sour, sweet taste of vinegar creates a familiar, attractive hometown flavor.

Source: https://danviet.vn/con-ca-me-ai-cung-che-tanh-o-lang-nay-cua-thai-binh-dan-bat-lam-goi-ca-me-co-nguoi-an-thun-thut-20241112233756242.htm