Bac Lieu specialty 'eat and cry at the same time', fish sauce hotpot during flood season

Fish sauce hotpot

Fish sauce hotpot is a Bac Lieu specialty that tourists cannot miss. Fish sauce hotpot is cooked with the essence of fish sauce or perch or linh fish sauce. The fish sauce is put into fresh coconut water, with lemongrass and fried garlic added to create a fragrant aroma and cooked until the meat is broken down, then strained to remove the bones. The meat used to cook fish sauce hotpot is pork belly, sliced into bite-sized pieces, marinated with spices and stir-fried with shallots and chopped lemongrass, then put the meat in the broth cooked from the marrow bones before. The meat broth and fish sauce broth are poured together, mixed together to create the broth of fish sauce hotpot.

People often eat hotpot with basa fish, snakehead fish, shrimp, squid,... and indispensable wild vegetables such as water spinach, water lily, sesbania, coconut vegetable, bitter vegetable or eggplant, winged bean, bitter melon.

The dish looks simple, but shows the creativity and culinary talent of the people of the West.

(Photo: Linh Trang)

Bac Lieu Crabs

Crabs live in brackish water environments, where river mouths and canals flow into the sea, most abundant in the provinces of Ca Mau and Bac Lieu... Crabs are crustaceans, similar in shape and size to field crabs, living in brackish and saltwater areas, along rivers and canals, especially at the foot of mangrove forests.

Ba Khia belongs to the crab family but has 3 lines on its back like a knife, so people call it Ba Khia. Ba Khia's meat is very firm and sweet, so it is loved by many people.

Three-sided crab can be cooked into many dishes. Westerners in general and Bac Lieu people in particular skillfully choose crabs with large claws to fry, braise, or fry with flour to eat with rice. More elaborately, people also turn three-sided crabs into attractive drinking dishes such as tamarind stir-fried, beer steamed, mixed salad, etc.

In particular, Bac Lieu Ba Khia is most famous for its processing method of making fish sauce. The distinctive, salty taste of Ba Khia fish sauce makes many people impressed.

Bac Lieu Radish Cake

Radish cakes are sold quite commonly in Bac Lieu. At first glance, many people may mistake them for wontons or dumplings because of their similar appearance. However, in addition to being larger in size, the flavor and ingredients of radish cakes are also completely different.

The main ingredients for making radish cakes, from the crust to the filling, are all from white radish. The crust is made from a mixture of wheat flour mixed with pureed radish powder. After a process of soaking and mixing the dough, the dough is rolled into thin pieces. The filling inside is a combination of shrimp, meat, radish, and carrots.

The radish and carrot strands are finely and evenly chopped, mixed with minced meat and shrimp, seasoned to taste and stir-fried until cooked. The chef skillfully encases the filling in a pure white pastry shell.

After a period of steaming in the pot, the cakes are evenly cooked with a transparent crust that reveals the pink color of the filling inside. When served, the radish cakes are sprinkled with scallion oil, fried onions and sweet and sour fish sauce.

Spicy beef noodle soup

Although it has a typical flavor of the Central region, spicy beef noodle soup is a rustic dish for the people of Bac Lieu. Bac Lieu spicy beef noodle soup has the spicy taste of chili, satay, the aroma of spices such as lemongrass, star anise, cinnamon... mixed with a rich, shimmering red and sweet broth.

To make a delicious bowl of spicy beef noodle soup, the broth is simmered from pork or beef bones. The beef must have lean meat, flank, brisket, tendons, etc. and be cut into pieces about 1.5 - 2cm thick.

The bowl of noodles has square pieces of beef about three fingers in size. Pick up a piece of meat, dip it in salt and chili and put it in your mouth. It can be lean, flank, brisket, tendon, or any other type of meat, leaving a unique and delicious flavor. After eating, diners may feel teary-eyed from the spiciness, but they will be satisfied with the crunchiness, toughness, and richness of the beef and the sourness of the lemon that stimulates gastric juices.