Catching sweet potato fish in the sea of Ca Mau

At 4 a.m., Mr. Kim Van Thang (51 years old, Go Cong hamlet, Nguyen Viet Khai commune, Phu Tan district, Ca Mau province) put on a headlamp and went out to the boat to check the nets and equipment. The pot of white rice on the stove was also fragrant and cooked, and Mr. Thang's wife lifted the whole pot into a basket along with a few salted fish fried in oil.

Mr. Thang, carrying a basket of rice, called out to his 20-year-old son, who was still half-asleep, reminding him to pour a few more bottles of water to take down to the boat. His wife stood at the door, watching the father and son through the beam of her flashlight until they disappeared behind the bushes.

The sound of the engine shattered the tranquil night in the coastal village of Go Cong (Nguyen Viet Khai commune, Phu Tan district). The motorboat glided forward, bobbing up and down with the waves.

The engine noise fluctuated between low and high: a roaring sound when the propeller rose above the water, a low rumble when it sank. Those sitting on the boat had to cling tightly to the sides to avoid being "blown" into the sea. The sky was pitch black; Mr. Thang used the stars for navigation, occasionally turning his head to shine the flashlight on the few remaining stakes in the sea for reference before turning it off and continuing to steer, the boat surging forward.

Mr. Thang's motorboat arrived at the potato fish pond off the coast of Go Cong at dawn. Around him, dozens of fishing boats and motorboats had gathered in an area of about 5 square kilometers; some were anchored and preparing, while others had begun casting their nets.

Mr. Thang's boat is about 5m long, containing about 700 spans of net (approximately 1,200m), with a net width of about 4.5m. One edge has a lead weight attached, and the other edge has a float to keep the net taut in the water.

He started the engine and slowed the boat down so his son could cast the net to catch the school of sweet potato fish. The son, holding a warning buoy with one end of the net tied to it, threw it far out and then gradually untied the net, letting it fall into the sea as the boat glided forward.

After casting the nets, as the sun began to rise, Mr. Thang turned off the engine, let the boat drift, smoked a cigarette, and then shoveled down a bowl of rice with water and salted fish. After eating, his son took a nap, while Mr. Thang sat at the helm, watching the nets and observing the clouds and the sun.

After resting for about two hours, when the sun on the sea started to get hot, Mr. Thang and his son pulled in the net. The father held one end of the net, the son the other, pulling it in while removing the fish.

In their first catch of the day, Mr. Thang and his son caught nearly 20kg of scad fish, just enough to meet their "target" for one net cast. On days when there are many fish, Mr. Thang only casts his net once before returning to shore. Each fishing trip only involves a maximum of two net casts.

The season for catching scad fish in Ca Mau sea begins after Tet (Lunar New Year) and ends with the start of the rainy season (late May in the lunar calendar). During this time, whenever the tide comes in, scad fish appear in large numbers in a particular area, which fishermen call a "scad fish pond."

The snakehead fish congregate in the ponds for about 5 days during the mid-month tide (from the 14th to the 17th of the lunar month) and 4 days during the late-month tide (from the 29th of the previous month to the 2nd of the following lunar month).

No one can explain why the scad fish congregate in one area each season. Even stranger, they only gather during high tide (called the high tide period); for the rest of the month, the fish disappear, so even if you cast your nets, the boats only catch one or two kilograms at most.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Vu, a fisherman who has been catching scad fish for over 20 years in Dat Mui commune, Ngoc Hien district, it is possible that from January to May is the breeding season, so scad fish gather in one place to mate and lay eggs.

The seabed around the scad fish ponds has many coral reefs where the fish can take shelter. When the season ends, the fish move elsewhere, leaving none behind. Scad fish fishermen mainly use large-mesh nets (about 4cm or larger), so they don't completely deplete the fish population. Notably, during the fishing season, the scad fishing boats protect their ponds, preventing trawlers and dragnets from fishing in the area.

Thanks to this method of both fishing and nurturing, the fishermen who catch sweet potato fish with nets in Phu Tan district are blessed by nature every year. Each boat earns tens of millions of dong each fishing season.

However, the potato fishing profession also faces many risks; common accidents include nets getting caught on coral at the bottom of the sea, and if not untangled in time, the nets can tear, and buying new nets once means losing all the money saved for the entire season.

When there are storms and rough seas, there are more scad fish, but most of the boats used for scad fishing are small, and when they see storms, they have to run to shore to avoid capsizing, losing their nets, or even endangering their lives.

Connoisseurs enjoy fresh scad fish, and when there's an abundance of fish, wholesalers dry it. During peak fishing seasons, wholesalers buy fresh fish for around 40,000 VND/kg, while on days with fewer fish, the price rises to 70,000 to 100,000 VND per kilogram. Dried scad fish is a unique and delicious treat, so many people seek it out, with prices ranging from 500,000 to 700,000 VND/kg.

To keep snakehead fish fresh, it must be kept at a temperature of 25-28 degrees Celsius, and cooking it requires a special technique; only those with discerning palates can appreciate its delicious flavor.

If the British hadn't invaded and seized land from India, they probably would never have known that a type of fish existed, a fish they named the Bombay duck.

The scad fish belongs to the family of barramundi, and they live in schools, but their schools are not as large as herring schools. A school of herring is so large that, according to stories, if you throw a pole into the school of fish, the pole will remain standing without falling...

The common scad fish typically swim close to shore from late summer until nearly late spring of the following year, as if inviting: "Here are some scad, please catch them!" In reality, they don't live very far from the shore, about 3-10 nautical miles, making them suitable for small boats to catch and sell at the evening market.

For the first time, coming from Central Vietnam to Saigon, and for the first time in my life, I encountered dried scad fish sold from carts specializing in dried goods, which could be pedaled through the streets.

Those were the initial sketches of a culinary culture known as street food, which few people paid attention to. Until Saigon's street food scene became a complete picture, people also forgot about those food carts.

Back then, these food carts only had chili sauce mixed with black bean sauce to dip all sorts of things, from dried squid, dried barracuda, dried pufferfish (which wasn't banned yet - I have to admit this one was the best), and dried scad.

Back then, there wasn't a dish like dried sweet potato dipped in tamarind fish sauce that we have now.

It was this very fragrant aroma that captivated the British colonialists in India, giving rise to the story of the Bombay duck. Ironically, the Bombay duck has absolutely no connection to ducks; it's simply a case of mishearing and misinterpretation.

The British were so fond of this dried fish that they broke the rules and allowed dried scad to be transported by mail ships from Bombay throughout India. Bombay – the capital of Maharashtra state – is a peninsula city, much like Ben Tre , and has the largest scad fish resource in the country in the Arabian Sea.

Those poetic ships were named Bombay Dak, a transliteration from the Indian language. Due to a misunderstanding, the name of the sweet potato fish was mistakenly translated as "Bombay duck." Westerners know the sweet potato fish as Bombay duck, even though Bombay changed its name to Mumbai in 1995.

The catch of Bombay ducks is 30,000 - 40,000 tons per year ^[1] . Meanwhile, in Vietnam, it is estimated that the catch of scad fish is 3,000 - 5,000 tons per year ^[2] in coastal provinces. Scad fish must be very fresh to be delicious and with the right preparation.

We know that the scad fish has a high moisture content, second only to edible jellyfish, at about 87.5%, making it very difficult to preserve for long-distance transport. Mr. Minh, a restaurant owner in Can Gio, said that professional diners like him only refrigerate them for a few days. The fish itself can only withstand temperatures from 24-28 degrees Celsius. And the temperature for freezing the fish is only from 0 to 2 degrees Celsius.

As mentioned above, very fresh scad fish can be used to prepare several delicious dishes. The best is stewed scad fish, but stewing scad fish requires a special technique.

Many articles copy each other, claiming that the sweet potato fish from Quang Binh and Thai Binh is the best, but none of them provide evidence; they're just making assumptions. Following this trend, Meta Chat also repeats the content of these articles.

I demanded proof, but the only redeeming feature was that it had the flavor of the Quang Binh sea. What exactly is the flavor of the Quang Binh sea? It's a mystery!

I've had many delicious meals of sweet potato fish at Mr. Minh's restaurant in Can Gio; the owner is a real culinary expert – the fresh fish hotpot is probably his invention. Every time I go to Can Gio, my favorite dishes are sweet potato fish in hotpot, salt-roasted barracuda, and sea urchin roe.

Can Gio sea scad has sweet flesh. The restaurant is right by the sea, the fish is fresh. The fish has no small bones, only a single backbone, but it's as soft as cartilage. Yet, the Indians still cut the fish and remove that entire backbone.

Because the fish meat is sweet, besides being used in dishes, Indians also dry it, mix it with the herb asafoetida, and grind it into a seasoning powder. It's similar to how people in Hue use shrimp paste as a seasoning powder.

I once ate snakehead fish from Hon Ro, back when Nha Trang was still a city in the old Khanh Hoa province. The fresh snakehead fish were usually pink, with firm, elastic flesh, and didn't have the strong, pungent smell of dried fish.

The fish hotpot at Hon Ro seems tastier, because from the restaurant you can see the sea with boats clustered in the bay. The sea breeze is like a special spice that you don't always have everywhere.

In old Saigon, the weather was hot all year round, so to have a meal where you could devour plenty of vegetables, but couldn't eat as much fish as you could by the sea, I thought of making braised sweet potato fish with mild seasoning. The fish was marinated simply with various spices.

Seasoning powder isn't needed ( I'd rather use MSG after reading Mr. Vu The Thanh's article ) because the fish has a high umami content; even Indians use it as a seasoning powder. Since this fish isn't as fatty as striped catfish, you need to use oil to sauté it briefly after the fish has been thoroughly marinated.

For the best flavor, mix several types of vegetables and chop them finely. The braised fish should be cooked just right, not too mushy; if using pork belly, add it first. Pour the fish sauce over the vegetables until they wilt slightly from being soaked, then enjoy them with a piece of fish occasionally.

Many people also voted for braised catfish with pepper, but I think this type of fish should be eaten fresh; braising it lightly is already a last resort. Making porridge with it is completely wrong.

Dried scad fish at Rach Ong market costs 50,000 VND/100g. Mr. Minh said that fresh scad fish from Can Gio sea ranges from 150,000 - 180,000 VND/kg, but it's not the season now. Scad fish from Tam Quan, according to Google, ranges from 50,000 - 90,000 VND/kg. Prices are higher at wholesale markets.