“Go to the village to get some fish to cook in soy sauce, my child! After yesterday’s rain, there are plenty of fish in the fields, fresh and delicious” - the call early in the morning, normally I would frown and grumble at my mother, but when I heard about braised fish in soy sauce, my stomach was strangely churning.
When I was still in the countryside, when it rained heavily, my younger brother and I followed my father to go fishing and cast nets in Bau Tria, at the end of the village. Every time we saw the fishing rod "curved" deep into the grass, we knew for sure that it was a big snakehead fish or catfish "caught in the net" (according to the experience passed down by my grandfather and father), the two of us would race each other, whoever got there first would be the one to catch the fish and put it in our pot. The feeling of holding the fish's head tightly with both hands, asking my father to remove the hook and then release the fish into the pot was extremely enjoyable. Moreover, when I got home, I braised it with my mother, who cooked a pot of fish with bamboo shoot sauce to eat with hot rice, the feeling was so delicious that I was afraid I would run out of rice halfway through!
Bamboo shoot sauce is a specialty of my hometown (Phong My commune, Phong Dien district). The ingredients are very simple, including: bamboo shoots, ripe chili peppers and coarse salt. The bamboo shoots are peeled, washed, and cut into small slices. The chili peppers are pounded in a mortar until they are evenly “flaky”. The coarse salt is washed to remove impurities. Then mix well, put in a jar and seal tightly. Leave it for about 25-30 days before eating. If this dish is braised with snakehead fish or catfish, it will be “toothache”.
In the past, only Phong My people ate bamboo shoot soy sauce, and occasionally when relatives came to visit, they would give me a few jars as gifts. But somehow, when I went to the district high school and learned that I was from Phong My, my classmate spontaneously gave me the saying "First is Phong Chuong wine, second is Phong My soy sauce". At that time, I just thought this guy was just talking nonsense, wine and soy sauce are not the best or second. But later, wherever I went, whenever I met someone for the first time, did I know the saying "First is Phong Chuong wine, second is Phong My soy sauce"? I don't know since when it became a catchphrase every time I introduced myself to my friends about the land next to the gentle O Lau river.
Now, Phong My bamboo shoot sauce has a label, a brand and is sold in all markets and supermarkets. You can eat it anytime you want. But for some reason, when I hear my mother call, “Go to the village and get some fish to cook in soy sauce, my child!” my stomach feels strangely churning.
Remembering the years living in Saigon, there was no shortage of anything. Yet every few days, every half month, I craved my mother's braised fish with soy sauce terribly. Not only did I crave the taste, but I also craved the memories of the old days!
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