Every dish is a story

Cu Lao hotpot is a typical Western cuisine . Photo: MY HANH

Cuisine of the island

The dishes in the West are very familiar and rustic, you can call them by the way they are prepared, the ingredients, or the names of the cooking utensils. Following trending clips on social networks, we went to Tuan's cherry garden in My Hoa Hung island commune. Ms. Le Thi Tuyet Nhung - Mr. Tuan's wife happily said: "VTV has just come back to film and introduce the dishes here, and everyone is interested and curious. I think that when doing business in the garden, we should choose rustic dishes to match the countryside atmosphere, but I didn't expect so many people to praise them, I'm so happy". Some typical dishes at Mr. Ho Quoc Tuan's restaurant are clay-grilled chicken, island hotpot, grilled snakehead fish, burnt rice, grilled mice with fermented bean curd, fried elephant ear fish... The most impressive dishes are island hotpot and clay-grilled chicken, customers who want to enjoy them must order in advance because the ingredients must be fresh, elaborately prepared, and take a long time to prepare.

The island is the name of a popular item used to display food, which has been preserved until now. The aluminum island has a special shape with a round tube in the middle to hold charcoal to heat the food outside, and a place below for the charcoal to fall. Geographically, the island is a small area of land rising in the middle of the river, which receives alluvium, providing a fresh and fertile source of life for crops. In cuisine, the island evokes the richness of ingredients, meticulousness in processing, and the rich flavor of reunion parties in the hometown.

In the past, when there were no alcohol stoves or mini gas stoves, the island was used a lot to keep the food in the hot pot warm throughout the meal. The island dish was cooked on formal occasions such as death anniversaries, weddings, family and clan gatherings. In modern times, the island is rarely used because of the countless pots and electric hot pots. Some restaurants have cleverly included this dish in the culinary menu to create a highlight to attract customers. Many eco-restaurants also use the island to serve tourists to keep up with this sensitivity.

Rustic clay-grilled chicken dish. Photo: MY HANH

Quality ingredients

Mr. Tuan said that on My Hoa Hung island, there are many hundred-year-old houses, most of which have been preserved, becoming places for tourists to visit and stay. Many old houses are still on the island, but you have to wait for parties or death anniversaries to see and eat hot pot on the island. At the restaurant, he serves this dish on request, so there are always customers who support him.

The ingredients for cooking the dish are chicken intestines, pig intestines, liver, heart, gizzard, fish cake, etc. Vegetables are chosen according to their colors to make the hot pot eye-catching, including the bright colors of carrots, the brown of jujubes, the white of cabbage, the green of cauliflower, the dark brown of straw mushrooms, etc. Skillful housewives also carve vegetables into flowers and decorative leaves to make the dish more eye-catching and attractive.

The broth of the island dish is chicken broth or bone broth simmered with cassava, onion, and white radish for a natural sweet taste. The broth also has dried shrimp and grilled dried squid to enhance the richness. “Parties in the West have many delicious dishes, but it would not be complete without the island dish. After eating cold, fried, and steamed dishes, the main dish is the island dish that diners look forward to. The charcoal in the tube burns red and shakes, making the broth always simmer, and the hot food is ready to be enjoyed,” Ms. Nhung shared.

The next famous dish is clay-grilled chicken, also known as “beggar chicken”, with many different versions to explain the quick preparation method when there are no cooking utensils. In the memory of Ms. Mai Ngoc Huynh, living in Cu Lao Gieng commune, in the past, after finishing farming work, people would pile straw and firewood in the middle of the field to grill chicken for convenience, as a snack. The chicken was left whole, covered with a layer of clay on the outside, when cooked, just remove the layer of clay to clean the skin and feathers, leaving only the soft white chicken meat to enjoy immediately. Thanks to the hard-working years of her childhood with her grandparents in the fields, for Ms. Huynh, this dish also represents the familiar labor in the countryside.

Nowadays, the clay-baked chicken dish has been slightly innovated but still ensures to retain the characteristic flavor and rustic way of making. The whole chicken is cleaned, drained, marinated with spices, then wrapped in many layers of lotus leaves, and the outer layer is covered with a layer of sticky clay. This dish is a bit time-consuming, a small chicken must be baked for 45 minutes, a larger one must wait for 1 hour or more to make sure the chicken is cooked evenly and juicy. The finished product after the waiting time is to watch the cook remove the outer layer of lotus leaves, revealing the shiny, fragrant chicken skin. The chicken is dipped in crushed salt and chili, and squeezed with lemon juice for the perfect taste.

MY HANH

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/moi-mon-an-la-mot-cau-chuyen-a427187.html