The prominent culinary ecosystem of the South is fermented fish sauce, with vermicelli with fermented fish sauce available in every province or hot pot with fermented fish sauce with local products. But today, Lao Dong Weekend Newspaper wants to introduce to readers another very delicious, very unique and almost indispensable fermented fish sauce dish in family reunion meals on weekends: fermented fish sauce.
Speaking of the word "chung", many people will think of shrimp paste stewed with meat, where the meat accounts for 8-9 parts, and the paste only smells. In fact, shrimp paste in the old days only had faint meat, not as abundant as it is now, so it also discourages the spirit of shrimp paste stewed used as a sauce to dip in other dishes or eat with rice.
In Southern fermented fish sauce, this is a complete dish, with the ingredients being finely ground fermented fish sauce, then mixed with duck eggs, minced pork, chopped wood ear mushrooms and then placed in a steamer bowl. fermented fish sauce can be eaten with rice, but must be accompanied by vegetables such as dragon beans, okra, water lily.
For people in the South who grew up in the protection of the Mekong River system, fish sauce is a gift from heaven. From fish living in heavily alluvial water such as linh fish, sac fish, tray fish, chot fish, perch, snakehead fish. Each type of fish creates a different type of fish sauce with a different flavor, and is used for different dishes.
The most delicious fermented fish paste is made from linh fish paste, i.e. linh fish paste. This is a type of fish that only comes to Vietnam along the Tien and Hau rivers in the flood season, so it is necessary to take advantage of the time to catch and process the paste as a type of food reserve in times of abundance to save for times of poverty.
To have a delicious bowl of fermented fish sauce, you have to go through a long journey. Unlike fermented fish noodle soup and fermented fish hotpot, which only boil the fermented fish sauce to dissolve the meat and then filter out the bones, fermented fish sauce takes advantage of the entire fermented fish. Scoop the fermented fish into a mortar and grind it finely, because the fermented fish has spoiled, this process is also very simple and easy.
There is a secret to creating "delicious" fermented fish sauce is to mix a little snakehead fish sauce into linh fish sauce. Because the snakehead fish is big, just take a part of the fillet is enough, then also grind it with linh fish sauce. Because linh fish sauce is fatty, while snakehead fish sauce is greasy and buttery due to being lean and both are the most fragrant types of sauce, so the smell of the sauce is even stronger.
The delicious pork belly bought is washed in diluted salt water and minced, then mixed with wood ear mushrooms and then put in a blender to grind until smooth. Pour this mixture into a large bowl, mix well with ground fish sauce and a few duck eggs into a block.
Then, pour the mixture into a bowl or mold that has been spread with a layer of oil to prevent it from sticking to the fish sauce, pour evenly, smooth the surface and put it in the steamer for about 30 minutes to steam the fish sauce. During the stewing process, beat a duck egg, take the yolk and beat it, use a broom to spread evenly on the surface of the fish sauce bowl.
After a few times of spreading, the bowl of fish sauce will turn bright yellow, very beautiful. Even more elaborate, place a salted duck egg yolk in the middle of the bowl. It will be the red pistil of a fresh yellow flower, dipped in a thin black-brown piece of wood ear mushroom and emitting the fragrant aroma of fish sauce. That scent is very strong, not hidden like shrimp paste stewed with meat.
The Southern way of cooking fermented fish sauce also likes to add a few slices of chili peppers, a few slices of shallots so that when the fermented fish sauce is almost cooked, it will be put on the surface, both to add color to the dish and to increase the bite-chilling spiciness when eating fermented fish sauce. But only then is it delicious, because fermented fish sauce is an extremely wonderful dish when eaten in the rainy, chilly weather.
Steamed fish sauce is often eaten with sour star fruit, sweet bananas, dragon beans, okra, cucumbers. For some reason, Steamed fish sauce is extremely sharp and suitable for dragon beans. The salty taste of the fish sauce makes that slimy root and fruit become the number one soulmate, sublimating together in people's mouths and tongues.
A piece of fermented fish sauce with linh fish rolled in lettuce, sandwiched with a piece of dragon bean, thinly sliced cucumber is enough for a rustic delicious dish but full of delicacy. The rich taste of fish sauce, the soft sweetness of the meat, harmonizing with the crispness of vegetables - tubers - fruits will make the rice bowls disappear in the blink of an eye.
It can be said that mam chung is a delicious and very popular dish, especially for the working class. After a hard week of making a living, nothing is simpler and warmer than gathering around to eat a meal of mam rice. And it's not expensive at all, less than 100,000 VND is enough for the whole family to have fun together.
