Muong people's specialty tray in Duong Coc lake

Loach is a specialty of Duong Coc Lake (Ba Thuoc District, Thanh Hoa Province). They live in caves deep at the bottom of the lake and must be caught with a ba quat net - a square tube net with many compartments, with doors for the fish to enter (and not be able to exit) opening alternately on both sides. Grilled Loach is a specialty of the Muong people in Duong Coc Lake.

During a business trip to the mountainous district of Ba Thuoc in Thanh Hoa province, a friend whispered: "Today I will introduce to you a very rustic specialty of the Muong people in the Duong Coc lake area in Ba Thuoc land." After finishing the work, he eagerly took me more than 20 km from Canh Nang town to Duong Coc lake.

Hao - a strong Muong man, the family's son-in-law - smiled and led us to a hut on the lake to rest while he prepared food. Hao's Muong meal to entertain guests was entirely made from natural products from Duong Coc Lake and was mainly grilled: free-range chicken, carp, fresh grilled tilapia, and loach marinated with ginger and grilled with salt and chili.

Clean the rooster, remove the entrails, marinate with salt, cooking oil and mac khen seeds for about 1 hour, then clamp bamboo and grill over hot coals. Continuously turn the chicken over the stove and brush the marinade all over the chicken. Clean the carp and tilapia, marinate with salt for about 1 hour, then clamp on a grill and grill over charcoal.

Mâm đặc sản của người Mường ở hồ Duồng Cốc - Ảnh 1.

The most important dish: grilled loach. The fat loach (about 6-8 fish/kg) are caught, cleaned with salt, then marinated with salt and ginger for about 1 hour before grilling. "Marinating with ginger makes the fish very fragrant" - Hao revealed.

When everything was golden brown and fragrant in the spacious kitchen, "head chef" Hao shouted up to the stilt house, and several people in the house rushed down to arrange and put the food on the tray.

The Muong meal was displayed on a long, low wooden table in a windy hut by the lake. A fresh, green banana leaf was spread on the table, grilled dishes were displayed directly on the banana leaf, and bamboo-woven Muong sticky rice bowls were placed along the length of the table. And a bottle of apple wine was indispensable to warm the stomach.

It was dark, everyone was hungry. Sitting around the grilled specialty tray of the Muong people, we all felt hungry because of the aroma. Biting into a piece of grilled loach with salt and ginger, the meat was sweet, chewy and fragrant, followed by a sip of apple wine, oh what a wonderful feeling, so worth the long journey to Duong Coc Lake.

The fish in Duong Coc Lake grow completely naturally, so they are very clean and firm. All the dishes are rustic, but everyone "processes" them with great enthusiasm. When seeing me off after my business trip, my friend from Thanh Hoa winked: "Next time I return to Thanh Hoa for business, come back to Muong to enjoy the specialties of Duong Coc Lake."