This season, herring swim in flocks at sea, becoming an aquatic resource for fishermen. The catfish has a white belly, a blue back, a slightly flat trunk, and is about the size of an adult's finger. Herring is a fish that is very suitable for Vietnamese tastes, rather than for export.
From the herring of this beautiful sea, people make many delicious dishes. From braised salty herring eaten with hot rice or rice paper to fried herring with salty fish sauce and fresh chili, it is better to eat rice than to eat with the enemy.
Tomato herring is also a dish to fly rice cookers in a steamer, or a dish of grilled herring eaten with green rice with the leaves of the "delicate human flavor". Then there are the sweet and sour pineapple and herring dishes, making all the dreamy feelings disappear.
However, the first and only festival of Phu Quoc cuisine is herring. Visit fishing villages in Phu Quoc, you will see the scene of a group of enthusiastic male children making herring salad.
At that time, like in many regions in Vietnam, people still had the concept that garlic was a lai lai lai, so they let their son do it. But when they get married, they invite their daughters. Because "eating rice with meat is good. Eating garlic requires women to be happy". Therefore, from the sesame fish salad in Nam Dinh, or the herring salad in Phu Quoc, the story of "they make it, the ladies play" is natural.
From making fish, slicing fish, squeezing lemon, roasting peanuts, mixing spices to picking vegetables, making dipping sauce... all have a group of men in charge. Fish salad is a strong dish, so it requires a lot of electrolytes in the processing, perhaps to make the dish laxative, without any incidents?
Like my brother-in-law, whenever I make sesame fish salad, I will make from A to almost Z, the remaining Z, just let my sister-in-law take care of the salad trays to make them beautiful. The rest is not to be confident, from the steps of making fish, snoring meat, making shovels, mixing... you just have to do it yourself to feel secure.
In the Phu Quoc herring salad, the man took on the task of soaking the whole lot, from the lemon squeezing stage. Before squeezing, you must choose fresh green lemons, in the same group to have a homogenous and pure sourness, aroma. A pinch of boiled lemon with a slightly dried peel will give a sour taste, not a light one.
Then, you have to use your palms to press the lemon fruit lightly, rolling it evenly to squeeze in a lot of juice. There is also the story of diluting lemon juice in the right amount, so that when mixed with fish, the ripe fish fibers are not too soft and sour. No more lemon seeds in the bowl must be removed.
An emery, when eaten, still has a bitter taste, damaging the garlic pieces. Even have to squeeze the lemon back, so that each drop of lemon juice has the flavor of lemon essential oil. That is considered fine! People often think women are meticulous, but men are also meticulous, especially when taking care of their drinking.
The herring fish of the West Sea (in the Gulf of Thailand) is slightly larger than the common carp, but they are a bit long, have smooth, shiny scales, and are loved by many people for their delicious and nutritious meat. In these waters, herring is exploited all year round, most during the monsoon season.
To have quality herring salad, people have to choose fresh fish, scale them, wash them and then cut them into small pieces. After phi lo (fishing sops), add the phi lo pieces and marinate with a little lemon juice or vinegar for a few minutes and then rinse the water.
Then add the fish sauce, sugar, ginger, chili and chopped onions, mix well. You can also phi the garlic and purple onions to make them fragrant before mixing with fresh fish meat and add a little ear to remove the fish smell. In general, any way is to make the fish fly without a fishy smell and a more attractive flavor.
But to have a plate of premium herring, the male chef must prepare it properly, especially the roasted peanuts that are both fragrant and fragrant and grated coconut. The grated coconut for this dish must be dried coconut that is really old to increase fat. Accompany a plate of sticky rice cake, a plate of noodles, young vegetables and dipping sauce.
It is best to have garden vegetables, wild vegetables such as mango shoots, bran shoots, cach leaves, perilla, mustard greens... with a few sandwiches, some star fruit and a little cucumber, which is great. In particular, the dipping sauce must be made from fragrant and fragrant eric fish sauce, seasoned in harmony with a little sour vinegar, spicy spicy chili and sweetness, the fattiness of sugar, and finely roasted peanuts.
Now it's the shift, which means the dipping sauce for herring salad. Not as elaborate as meu catfish or freshwater fish, you have to use the bones of the fish head to grill, crush, mix with the ear to prepare, the mon an for the catfish catfish is much simpler. Just Phu Quoc spinach fish sauce, mix with sugar, lemon juice, minced garlic and chili and grated peanuts to become a thick, harmonious and sour mixture.
When eating herring hotpot, we will use chopsticks to pick fish, coconut, vermicelli and "Phu Quoc-smelling" wild vegetables in a rice paper and roll them around, dipping in the crust, then chewing slowly to enjoy the characteristic flavor of the salty, salty seafood, the rich, fragrant wild vegetables, and the fragrant roasted peanuts.
Herring garlic in particular is a harmonious mixture of garlic and spices. Open the rice paper, add vegetables (barbage, cinnamon, fish lettuce, onions, corn, lettuce) in, spread the fish salad and roll it up, season with sweet and sour fish sauce to get a complex harmony of flavors.
Sweet and creamy pieces of garlic thanks to fresh fish. The rich, rustic and sour taste of wild vegetables is suddenly seasoned by the spicy taste of green chili and the rich, fragrant flavor of roasted coconut and peanuts. After such a delicious piece, it would be a lack if it were without a handful of burnt Go Den sticky rice wine. The coffee is delicious!
