Mom, do you know that for us Western children, a meal of fish, fish sauce, and wild vegetables is the best?

In my hometown in the West, during the flood season, there were meals with only fish, fish sauce, and wild vegetables, which consumed all of my mother's rice.

White rice and braised catfish - Photo: DANG TUYET

In my hometown in the West, during the flood season, there were meals with only fish, fish sauce, and wild vegetables, which used up all of my mother's rice.

Those are memories of the days when we were still at home with our mother, the smell of braised fish and steamed fish sauce suddenly filled our noses, the children's stomachs suddenly growled with hunger, following the scent to find the rice their mother cooked.

The childhood meals of us Western children often included white rice and braised fish (braised with pepper, braised with water).

When the flood season comes, many kinds of fish appear, sold in abundance and cheaply in the market, mother often buys long tong fish to cook one pot after another. Therefore, the children always come home full, not afraid of hunger, because rice and braised fish are always available.

Braised pork belly with fish sauce served with coconut leaves and raw eggplant - Photo: DANG TUYET

Cleaned linh fish, marinated with spices, prepared to braise with lemongrass and chili - Photo: DANG TUYET

This season's braised fish dish can use many types of fish such as: long tong fish, young linh fish, dolphin fish, khoai fish, catfish, chop fish... but the most popular is still long tong fish because it is cheaper than other types of fish.

The flood season is also associated with linh fish. Linh fish appear when the water rises and leave the fields when the water falls.

Young linh fish can be dipped in hot pot, braised in a brine... and eaten with wild vegetables such as water spinach, water lily, and sesban flowers. When linh fish reach the size of a thumb at the end of the flood season, they can be used to make fish sauce, fermented to be eaten all year round.

Fresh, just-cleaned linh fish cooked in sour soup with water lily and sesban flowers and dipped in linh fish sauce is a daily dish during flood season in the West.

Or when the whole family gathers with many members, they often display linh fish hotpot or linh fish dipped in vinegar. Vegetables served with it are also around a few types such as: water lily, sesban flower, coconut vegetable, morning glory, water chives, water hyacinth shoots, water mimosa...

Braised snakehead fish with lemongrass served with lotus, sesbania flowers, raw banana, and lettuce - Photo: DANG TUYET

But the specialties of the flood season are not only linh fish and long tong fish, but also fish that were abundant and cheap before such as: loach, he fish, sea perch, eel, crab...

But now they have gradually "disappeared" and become expensive. Therefore, linh fish is mentioned more often, because it is easy to find, and the price also decreases with the tide.

Now, whenever we come home from work, my mother often asks us what we want to eat so she can buy it for us. The answer is always the same: braised fish and sour soup, but the result is that every meal of my mother is full of pork, chicken, and duck.

Mother did not know that, for us, meals with fish, fish sauce, and wild vegetables were the best meals in the world, and dishes associated with the flood season were even more diverse and left the most flavorful aftertaste.

Linh fish sauce hotpot with shrimp, squid, fish served with vegetables such as: chives, lotus, water fern, water hyacinth shoots... - Photo: DANG TUYET

Simple meal with braised catfish and boiled banana blossom - Photo: DANG TUYET

Hotpot with linh fish sauce and wild vegetables - Photo: DANG TUYET

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DANG TUYET

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/me-co-biet-voi-nhung-dua-tre-mien-tay-chung-toi-bua-com-ca-mam-rau-dong-la-ngon-nhat-20250916155335581.htm