Unique braised sea fish dish for Tet holiday of fishermen in Dien Bich fishing village

Braised anchovies in the traditional way of the residents of Dien Bich fishing village. (Photo: Xuan Tien/VNA)

Dien Bich (Dien Chau district, Nghe An ) is a coastal commune, purely fishing. For people in the coastal villages of Dien Bich commune (Dien Chau district, Nghe An), braised sea fish is an indispensable dish on the ancestral altar in every family during Tet and Spring.

People in this "land of the waves" use braised sea fish as an item to display on the ancestral altar to express their gratitude to their ancestors, forefathers, and generations of fathers who have preserved, maintained, and passed on the seafood fishing profession to future generations.

Therefore, every time Tet comes, Spring comes, families in coastal villages are busy preparing all the ingredients and tools to braise fish for Tet. On the offering tray, in addition to green banh chung, ham, sausage, pickled onions, sticky rice, chicken..., braised sea fish has created diversity, created highlights and brought a unique cultural feature in the cuisine of coastal people.

The process of processing and braising fish with unique and meticulous steps, requiring labor, so the sea fish of Dien Bich people can be kept for a very long time, has a rich aroma; sweet, spicy, salty taste, is a combination of spices, molasses, just enjoy it once and you will remember it forever.

Nearly 90 years old this year, having been at sea for more than 70 years, Mr. Nguyen Van Nam, Quyet Thang hamlet, Dien Bich commune, Dien Chau district, Nghe An, said: Braised fish for Tet has existed since the time when fishermen in the commune exploited seafood by hand, boats running by sail thanks to the wind, hundreds of years ago.

At that time, the economy was still poor, so on the last trips to the sea, fishermen always stayed up late and woke up early to take advantage of the time to fish. The types of fish that were easy to catch were catfish and mullet, so people gradually got used to using these types of fish to braise during Tet.

The amount of fish caught must be accumulated over many days during each trip to the sea. Therefore, every fisherman at sea must buy fishing gear and tools to be able to prepare, clean and grill the fish as soon as they are caught from the sea.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Nam, the tool used to cook fish was a clay pot, not a variety of materials like today. The clay pots were bought from small traders from the famous Tru Son pottery village (Do Luong district, Nghe An) and brought down to sell to coastal fishermen. Sea fish cooked in clay pots is of good quality, with a very unique and distinctive flavor.

However, to have a satisfactory clay pot, people have to choose carefully. The clay pot for stewing fish must meet the criteria of a round mouth, balanced and harmonious belly and bottom, smooth skin, standard color, no cracks, cracks, or leaks.

Displaying braised sea fish on the ancestral altar during Tet. (Photo: Xuan Tien/VNA)

Before putting the pot into use (cooking, boiling), the step of "cooking" the clay pot once again also requires families to perform meticulously and diligently. Therefore, when the pot is just bought, people will use young bamboo leaves, leaves and taro tops to crush, then rub evenly on the inside and outside of the clay pot. After rubbing, it will be placed on a wood stove, heated over red hot charcoal, or a burning wood fire.

Through many times of rubbing, heating, and grilling, the pot will be able to withstand very high heat when cooking, become more durable and sturdy, and the pot's skin will be smoother when the tiny holes on the inside and outside of the pot are filled with sweet potato resin.

Nowadays, in modern society, there are many different types of household and cooking utensils, so people have switched to using aluminum and stainless steel pots to stew fish. Wood stoves have been replaced by gas stoves. However, the way to stew fish still retains the old style. The two types of fish, "thung" and "nuong", are still the popular and main types that people choose to stew during Tet.

The fish are bought when the boat has just docked and transferred to the shore, they are fresh and delicious. After buying, the fish are gutted to remove the organs, scaled, cut off all the fins, washed thoroughly with cold water many times and then left to drain in a cool place. When the fish is drained, it will be grilled on a charcoal stove in the traditional way that has been preserved for decades by the people of the fishing village. When the fish is cooked, it will be placed on baskets, trays, trays, and winnowing trays to cool. When the fish is cool, to make it drier and harder, it will go through a drying process over fire or in the sun for many hours, many days.

To braise fish with the right flavor, the ingredients needed include: A bowl of molasses, thinly sliced ​​ginger and galangal, cold water, sugarcane pulp, fish sauce, chili powder, MSG, and green tea. Arranging the fish in the pot is done sequentially according to the steps.

First, use a layer of sugarcane pulp (scraped and crushed sugarcane pulp) to line the bottom of the pot. This will help prevent the fish from burning and create a sweet, fragrant taste for the braised fish. Old bamboo sticks are split into finger-sized pieces of suitable length and placed on top of the sugarcane pulp layer, then the fish is placed in the pot. These bamboo sticks help prevent the fish from burning when braised if the water is not supplied in time. Pieces of ginger, galangal, and chili will form a layer on top of the pot. Finally, add spices, molasses, fish sauce, MSG, chili powder, and green tea to the pot.

In the process of braising fish, the distribution of fire at each stage is very important. When the fish water has not yet boiled, turn up the heat. When the fish starts to smell fragrant, turn down the heat and maintain it at a low level. The person directly braising the fish must watch carefully, listen to the sound of boiling water in the pot and the amount of steam coming out from around the pot lid to know when to add more water to the pot.

When the fish is cooked, the fish pot will be placed in a high, clean, airy place by the homeowner as a sincere gesture for the ancestors and deceased grandparents. Only when making the offering tray, will the braised fish be taken out, placed on a plate, and arranged on the offering tray for the ancestors.

In the minds of fishermen in coastal areas, there must be a pair of chopsticks to pick up fish. If the fish is not eaten after the offering, it cannot be put back into the pot. Therefore, the host only picks up enough fish (depending on the size of the fish and the number of people, guests eating that day).

Just like banh chung, which is required and mandatory on the ancestral altar on the last afternoon of the year, families in Dien Bich fishing village must complete the fish braising a few days in advance.

From the 25th and 26th of Tet, every household in the coastal village of Dien Bich has been competing to cook fish. The village roads and hamlets of Quyet Thang, Chien Thang, Hai Dong, Hai Nam, Quyet Thanh... are filled with the scent of cooked sea fish.

Along with sticky rice, jellied meat, pickled onions, and chicken, braised fish is an indispensable dish on the ancestral altar during Tet of the people of Dien Bich coastal village. (Photo: Xuan Tien/VNA)

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhung, Quyet Thang hamlet, Dien Bich commune, Dien Chau district, Nghe An province said: This Tet, her family braised nearly 10kg of anchovies to make offerings to display on the ancestral altar during Tet. The braising of the fish was done on the afternoon of the 28th of Tet. Due to the large amount of fish, the time from lighting the fire until the fish was cooked lasted for 5 hours. When braising fish, you need to pay attention to the fire to avoid the water in the pot from overflowing, especially adding water at the right time to prevent the fish from burning. When the water in the pot is thick and the aroma spreads throughout the kitchen, you can turn off the stove.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tam, Quyet Thang hamlet, Dien Bich commune, Dien Chau district, Nghe An said: This Tet holiday, her family braised more than 5kg of fish. For the past 3 years, because she did not have a clay pot, she switched to braising in a stainless steel pot. However, because she followed the correct braising process and spices, the quality, taste and color of the braised fish remained unchanged. The sweetness of molasses, the saltiness of good fish sauce, the spiciness of chili powder, ginger, galangal, dried onions, the taste of green tea... All create a harmonious aroma and flavor that brings a very unique, unforgettable taste when enjoying a piece of braised fish during Tet.

For fishermen in Dien Bich commune, braised sea fish is present on the New Year's Eve offering tray and on the lunch and afternoon offerings every day of Tet.

Braised sea fish is a dish that has been in the minds of fishermen in Dien Bich fishing village for hundreds of years every time Tet comes and Spring comes. After the day of "offering to the ancestors", the pot of braised fish will be gradually used by the homeowner for many days, while waiting for fishermen to perform the rituals of "dipping and pounding", "opening the sea" at the beginning of the year to start a seafood fishing season. Being carefully braised for many hours, braised sea fish can be kept for a very long time, retaining its rich aroma, characteristic flavor, and uniqueness, which is the combination of fish sauce, molasses, ginger, galangal, and chili.

In addition to its function as a dish and an offering to ancestors during Tet, braised sea fish can be a gift for children from the countryside to bring to the South and North after Tet as a nostalgia for the taste of Tet. Of course, with its distinctive flavor and strong ability to spread far away, the process of packaging and canning braised sea fish must also be meticulous and careful. For elderly fishermen who have stopped working at sea, braised sea fish on Tet brings back many memories of the years of drifting at sea and clinging to the sea. For the younger generation, braised sea fish is a dish of childhood memories.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Lien, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Dien Bich Commune, Dien Chau District, Nghe An, Dien Bich is one of 8 coastal communes, the flatland area of ​​Dien Chau District. The main economy of the locality is pure fishing with seafood exploitation.

Currently, the whole commune has 132 fishing boats in offshore fishing grounds, of which 53 have a capacity of 90CV or more. The total annual seafood output is from 6,500 to 9,000 tons, with a revenue of more than 130 billion VND.

The development of the seafood exploitation industry has led to the development of fishery logistics service industries such as fish sauce processing, sea fish grilling, weaving, rope, rope, buoy, ice production... creating jobs and livelihoods for thousands of local workers. Closely associated with the fishing industry, local fishermen still maintain customs and practices such as the whale worshiping custom, the custom of dipping and pounding for luck, the custom of worshipping boats at the end of the year, the custom of opening the sea to start a seafood exploitation season... In particular, the dish of braised sea fish for Tet and Spring has been formed for hundreds of years, bearing the cultural characteristics of coastal and river residents./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/doc-dao-mon-ca-bien-kho-dip-tet-cua-ngu-dan-lang-bien-dien-bich-post927583.vnp