On the evening of February 6, the grilled snakehead fish street on Tan Ky - Tan Quy Street was always ablaze with fire and smoke. Snakehead fish shops were busy preparing goods for the God of Wealth Day on February 7 (January 10).
According to Tin Tuc reporters, along Tan Ky - Tan Quy route (Tan Phu district), grilled snakehead fish shops are operating continuously to prepare for the God of Wealth day.
Staff at the stalls were busy grilling fish and serving customers all night, making the whole area bustling.
However, according to the owners of the grills, people's purchasing power has decreased somewhat this year, so most businesses have imported less fish than last year.
Smoke billows from the shops grilling snakehead fish.
Snakehead fish are imported from Binh Dien market or the Western provinces; weighing from 1.1 - 1.4 kg, gutted and cleaned, then skewered with sugarcane stalks for grilling.
Staff are busy grilling fish all night for tomorrow.
According to Mr. Trung, a shop owner, using sugarcane stalks to grill will make the fish meat sweeter and the skewers will not burn.
At Mr. Nguyen Trung's oven (residing in Tan Phu district), dozens of employees are busy grilling fish, preparing raw vegetables and dipping sauces to serve customers' needs on the occasion of God of Wealth's day this year.
Mr. Nguyen Trung, with 14 years of experience in selling grilled snakehead fish, shared: “To prepare for the God of Wealth Day, this year I ordered about 1,000 snakehead fish, each weighing 1.1 - 1.4 kg (totaling about 1.3 - 1.4 tons of fish). This quantity is 1,000 less than last year, because I realized that the economic situation this year has many difficulties, and I am afraid that consumption demand will decrease.”
To have a golden grilled snakehead fish, the griller must be skillful and turn the fish evenly so it doesn't burn.
The staff is always busy grilling fish.
Mr. Trung checks the grilled fish. According to Mr. Trung, each batch of 10 fish is grilled for 40 - 55 minutes.
“In order to grill all the fish, I had to mobilize 25 family members to participate in the stages such as preparing the fish, grilling the fish, packing vegetables, noodles and dipping sauce, starting from 3pm on February 6 until the morning of February 7. The price of fish this year is lower than last year, ranging from VND200,000 to VND220,000 per portion, depending on the size of the fish," Mr. Trung added.
Near the fish grilling area, Mr. Trung's family members are busy packing vegetables, noodles and dipping sauce into small bags to sell with grilled snakehead fish.
According to Mr. Trung, by late on February 6, he had only sold about 200 snakehead fish. “I hope that on the day of the God of Wealth, if I am lucky, the restaurant will sell out in the morning, but if purchasing power continues to decrease, I may have to sell until the evening,” Mr. Trung said.
Grilled snakehead fish shops operate continuously through the night, busy grilling fish to serve customers on the occasion of God of Wealth Day.
Even though tomorrow morning is the God of Wealth's day, many people have already come to Tan Ky - Tan Quy street to buy fish.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Giau (living in District 5) is choosing to buy grilled snakehead fish to worship the God of Wealth early tomorrow morning.
Similarly, at the oven of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Kim Anh's family, owner of Thanh Phong grilled snakehead fish shop, to meet the needs of customers on the occasion of God of Wealth's day, her family prepared 500 snakehead fish to grill and serve people.
Grilled snakehead fish costs from 200,000 - 220,000 VND/fish depending on size. It comes with herbs, dipping sauce and a package of noodles.
After grilling the fish, use a knife to scrape off all the charcoal. Grilled snakehead fish when offering to the God of Wealth must have intact fins, scales, and meat that is not peeled off.
After being grilled, the snakehead fish will be placed on shelves.
Hundreds of grilled snakehead fish are neatly arranged on shelves, ready to be sold to people on the morning of February 7, the God of Wealth's day.
“Due to the difficult economic situation, this year my family only imported less fish than last year to sell on God of Wealth Day. Partly because fish prices have increased, and partly because purchasing power has shown signs of decreasing,” Ms. Kim Anh shared.
Photo series: Manh Linh/Tin Tuc Newspaper
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