Rain in Hue, sitting at home eating rice with pickled melon, sour fish sauce, and braised pork belly, eating so much, eating so much rice

Growing up eating rice and soup "Hue style", my taste is quite "suitable" for Hue dishes in general and Hue fish sauces in particular... Mom cooked me braised pork belly with fish sauce and pickled cucumber, just fatty enough but rich, goes well with rice.

Growing up eating rice and soup "Hue style", my taste is quite "suitable" for Hue dishes in general and Hue fish sauces in particular.

In addition to dishes such as boiled meat with figs and fish sauce, boiled meat with pickled bean sprouts and shrimp paste, or simply mixed herbs and cucumbers with shrimp paste, my mother also cooked for me a dish of braised pork belly with pickled bean sprouts and fish sauce, just the right amount of fat but rich, and goes well with rice. This dish is often cooked by my mother on rainy days in Hue, when the weather is cool and fresh.

Mom often chooses to buy pork belly with layers of meat and fat stacked on top of each other, so that when braising the dish it won't dry out.

As for the pickled melon sauce, my mother chose the type that was stewed with mackerel sauce. The characteristic of this type of sauce is that when you bite into a piece of melon, you can feel the crunchiness, hear the "crackling" sound in your mouth, feel the slight saltiness because the melon is salted to make it tough and shriveled, the aroma of the sea because of the fish bait and the spicy taste from the chili peppers that are marinated together.

Mom usually skims off some of the pork fat to fry first, which helps the meat to be less greasy, and also creates crispy pieces of fried pork fat to make the braised meat more delicious. After being processed, the pork belly is cut into bite-sized pieces and marinated with fish sauce, salt, and spices. For this dish, Mom usually marinates it lightly and less spicy than normal braised meat. Mom said that when the meat is braised with pickled cucumber fish sauce, the salty and spicy flavors of the fish sauce will blend together to make the dish delicious.

Braised pork belly with fish sauce and pickled cucumber - delicious dish on rainy days.

When the pork rinds were fried golden brown, my mother put the meat in to braise, only turning on low heat to let the meat absorb the flavor and cook evenly.

When the meat is dry and has a nice burnt color, mom takes it out and adds the pickled cucumber sauce. The reason for this step is because the pickled cucumber sauce is salty, mom puts it on the stove to simmer separately with a little sugar to reduce the inherent saltiness. When the pickled cucumber starts to firm up, mom adds the previously braised pork belly to simmer together.

The fire was still simmering, steady, the sound of the burning at the bottom of the pot made Mom have to keep an eye on it, stirring the meat constantly. Finally, by observing the finished product, the color of the meat and the melon had blended together, making it difficult to distinguish which was the meat and which was the melon; along with her ears listening to the rustling sound in the pot and her nose sniffing the aroma of braised meat and melon, Mom judged that the dish was done and turned off the stove.

I approached my mother to be fed a piece of freshly cooked meatloaf while the delicious aroma still wafted from the kitchen corner.

The first feeling is the firmness and softness of the pork, along with the crunchy melon and the dry crispy feeling of the pork rinds that make your teeth chew rhythmically.

Above all, the overall light salty taste, the light sweetness of the caramelized sugar, the mild spiciness of the chili along with the delicious feeling of eating right in the kitchen made me so happy that I smiled from ear to ear.

Every time she cooks braised pork belly with fish sauce and pickled cucumber, my mother cooks more rice than usual, because this is a dish that goes well with rice. I have to eat a few bowls to satisfy my cravings.

Just from such dishes: simple, rustic but full of mother's love, it has nourished my body and soul to grow up. When I grew up, every time I returned home, I would fall into my mother's arms to be caressed, hugged, and fed delicious food by her when the stove was just turned off.

Source: https://danviet.vn/mua-hue-ngoi-trong-nha-an-com-voi-dua-gang-mam-chua-kho-thit-ba-chi-an-thun-thut-hao-com-20241113194746567.htm