Fish sauce: The flavor of the flood season in the West

Not all fish are sold at the market, many people choose the freshest fish to make fish sauce - a way to preserve fish for a long time, convenient for use during the rainy season, and also creates a famous specialty of this land.

Just passing by the floating market, the strong aroma of fish sauce spreads, awakening all the senses. Jars of golden linh fish sauce, fresh red chili salted fish sauce, snakehead fish sauce cut into pieces soaked in the color of roasted rice and rice powder... are neatly displayed on the stalls, both rustic and strangely attractive.

Making fish sauce seems easy but is difficult, people in the West have their own secret, the fish is cleaned immediately after being caught, salted according to the standard ratio and left to ferment naturally. Each type of fish has a different way of salting: linh fish sauce must be salted immediately when it is still fresh, fermented for a few days and then mixed with rice bran to give the fish a beautiful color, usually after more than a month of fermentation, the fish sauce begins to develop its aroma. People can leave the fish sauce longer, up to three months to have a rich, salty taste. Good fish sauce is a shimmering golden brown color, with a strong but not harsh aroma, when eaten, the salty, sweet and fatty flavors blend together, you can eat it forever without getting bored.

CN4 nsbp.jpg — People process freshwater fish before making fish sauce.

Fish sauce is not only for later consumption but also the main ingredient for many specialties of the Western region. The most prominent is fish sauce hotpot, a rustic dish that has won the hearts of diners from all over the country. The hotpot is steaming hotpot, the broth is made from linh fish sauce, sac fish sauce mixed with lemongrass, chili, eggplant, served with wild vegetables such as: water lily, water mimosa, water mimosa, water chives... making anyone who enjoys it exclaim. In addition, fish sauce is also used to make steamed fish sauce, braised fish sauce or simply raw fish sauce eaten with young mango, cucumber, green banana - a dish that seems simple but makes many people far from home remember it forever.

Not only a dish, fish sauce is also a memory, a soul of the countryside of many generations of people in the West. In the small kitchen, the jar of fish sauce is tightly covered, placed neatly on the kitchen counter, a “reserve” for the lean months. The strong aroma of fish sauce every time the lid is opened reminds one of the image of the mother carefully mixing the rice powder, the father lighting the charcoal stove to steam fish sauce for the whole family.

Westerners often joke: “Without fish sauce, rice is not complete”. In a home-cooked meal, a plate of fish sauce, a few slices of cucumber, green banana, and a chili pepper is enough to make the meal cozy, go well with rice, and be delicious. For those who live far away, fish sauce is a gift that brings nostalgia for home - just a small jar of fish sauce is enough to soothe the heart of those who are far away.

Fish sauce is a dish of time - because you have to wait patiently for the fish to ferment, to get the most complete flavor. Fish sauce is also a dish of humanity - because each jar of fish sauce contains effort, meticulousness and love for the homeland. When the flood season passes, the water recedes into the river, the fish sauce jars are opened again in the dry season, preserving the flavor of the days filled with alluvium. In the midst of modern life, fish sauce still holds its own position - simple but profound, rustic but charming, like the gentle, generous and sincere people of the West.

TIN HUY

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/mam-ca-huong-vi-mua-nuoc-noi-mien-tay-post823683.html