After getting married, although living and working in the capital, every 1-2 months, the couple brings their children back to the island to enjoy the fresh air.
Every time she returns to her husband's hometown, Khanh Ly experiences new things, especially the opportunity to taste "heaven-sent" specialties that she has never tried before.
“Marrying a man from an island, I got to experience all the jobs like catching snails, raking clams, pulling fishing nets, night squid fishing…”, the 9X woman shared.
Marrying a man from an island in Quang Ninh , Khanh Linh experienced many new and interesting things.
Khanh Ly said that the first time she set foot on Cai Chien Island was in 2019. At that time, when she heard about the island, she was both curious and worried, not knowing how life here was different from the mountainous areas.
However, the day she arrived at the island, the young girl was surprised because the island was small but had mountains, fields and forests, surrounded by the sea, just like a village on the mainland.
Cai Chien Island is about 8km from the mainland and about 330km northeast of Hanoi . To get to the island, people use two main means of transport: ferry and canoe.
“There are three ferry trips every day, at 6am, 10am and 4:30pm. However, ferry times may change depending on the day, season and weather conditions. From the mainland to the island and vice versa, the travel time by ferry is about 45 minutes, and by canoe is 15-20 minutes,” Khanh Ly said.
Along Cai Chien island, there are many undulating rocky islands, which are suitable habitats for seafood species, the most abundant of which are snails such as rock snails, green lime snails, yellow lime snails, mound snails, basket snails...
The 9X bride confided that in 2016, the island had just received national electricity, so the landscape still retained its original wild and peaceful beauty. There was no market on the island, so people had to go to the mainland to get anything they wanted, so each ferry trip back was always busy and bustling.
In addition to the wild, fresh and peaceful scenery, the island also has many “heaven-sent” specialties that she can only enjoy when she comes here. These are seafood such as clams, oysters, mussels, squid, crabs… that people catch and exploit from nature.
Snail soup, Don soup, ginger braised oysters (from left to right)
“Like many other islands, the sea offers a variety of seafood such as fish, shrimp, squid, octopus, snails, clams, mussels, etc. However, the most impressive thing for me is the natural sweetness of the sea urchin, the bitter taste of the basket snails and a dish that cannot be missed is the ginger-braised oysters,” the 9X shared.
Every time she returns to the island, Khanh Ly also gets to experience the local people's work such as fishing, netting, clam raking, snail catching, oyster catching... In the evenings, the young girl is taken to squid fishing and crab catching.
Quang Ninh bride experiences night squid fishing on Cai Chien island
"Results" after a night of hunting for "free" specialties with flashlights
She said that the islanders often freeze or cook seafood right away after catching it. The preparation is simple, without elaborate seasoning, but every dish is delicious.
Especially fish, if you want to eat it fresh and delicious, you often cook it into soup. The most popular are fish cooked with ginger water and fish cooked with betel leaves.
“You just boil water, add a few slices of ginger, then put the fish in to cook. No spices are needed, and the broth is still sweet, not fishy, and very appealing,” the 30-year-old bride added.
Porridge with salty food and fish soup with betel leaves
Another interesting thing about the island that Khanh Ly was also impressed with was that the people here often cook a big pot of porridge to eat all day. Some families eat porridge instead of rice, cooking a pot of porridge every morning for several meals.
The porridge used is flower porridge (slightly expanded rice grains), cooked with dried potatoes, corn or cassava, beans as desired and served with salty foods such as dried fish, pickled vegetables, pickled radish...
Homegrown ingredients such as fish, corn, potatoes, radishes, etc. are dried by the people to preserve and use year-round.
“Currently, the living conditions of the islanders have improved, transportation is convenient, but the families still maintain a simple, rustic, natural lifestyle and eating habits,” Khanh Ly said.
Photo: Khanh Ly
Vietnamnet.vn
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/nang-dau-quang-ninh-khoe-trai-nghiem-thu-vi-tren-dao-an-hai-san-la-ngon-2383307.html
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