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No modern toys, no parks or shopping malls, we have a small stream winding along the fields and a treasure under the water: mussels.
Mussel season is also when we have summer vacation. During the days when we go to the fields with my mother, my sisters and I go to the stream together. Each of us has bare heads, sunburned bodies, and carries a plastic basket, a nylon bag or simply two hands. Catching mussels does not require any sophisticated tools, nor is it difficult, it just requires patience...
We waded into the stream, feeling each handful of sand, feeling each hard object in the palm of our hands. When we found a mussel, everyone shouted as if they had found gold: “Ah! There’s a mussel!” And then, a series of crisp laughter echoed throughout the field.
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| Children excitedly catch mussels at Ea Kao Lake (Buon Ma Thuot City). Illustration photo |
My sister was nicknamed “the mussel killer” because she only needed to guess the water flow and scoop up a basket full of mussels. At those times, we would gather around, cheering and picking up mussels to put in our bags. My tiny hands that day were constantly scratching under the mud and sand, occasionally finding a few mussels but that was enough to make me happy. That little booty would be shown to my mother.
My mother often soaks mussels in a basin of rice water, adding a few slices of chili to remove the mud. My mother knows how to cook many dishes from mussels. I love all the dishes from mussel soup cooked with mixed vegetables, fragrant mussels stir-fried with lemongrass and chili, sometimes a bowl of sweet mussel porridge, mussels with rice paper… Mussels are not just a dish, they are a part of memories.
Nowadays, in the middle of crowded cities, sometimes you can still find mussels in fancy restaurants, but no matter how delicious they are, they can never be as sweet as the memories of childhood. Because mussels in the city lack the taste of family affection, the taste of the scorching sun of noontimes catching mussels laughing loudly with friends.
Childhood passes like a flowing river. But in my heart, there is still a stream that once held my childhood with a sunny afternoon, a basket full of mussels and... a crisp laughter that never fades.
Source: https://baodaklak.vn/xa-hoi/202506/ngot-lanh-vi-hen-tuoi-tho-17904c4/
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