Go to Go Cong to see the famous delicious shrimp paste

Mam tom cha originated as a rustic dish, made from the sweet meat of freshwater shrimps that swim in the alluvial waters of the West. But mam tom cha is also a luxury dish, associated with the story of Mrs. Pham Thi Hang, also known as Queen Mother Tu Du, a native of Go Cong, who brought it with her to the Hue royal court to present to the king about two centuries ago. Today, mam tom cha is present on the dining tables of many families, from the countryside to the city, from within the country to abroad.

The main ingredient of cha shrimp paste is silver shrimp, caught in the Tien River. When silver shrimp are hard to find, the makers of the paste add turmeric silver shrimp.

The shrimps are evenly sized like ring fingers and have their heads cut off, washed, and left to drain. At this stage, the black eyes of the shrimps are carefully removed by the workers to ensure that the color and flavor of the fish sauce are not mixed.

The shrimp is mixed with a mixture of garlic, chili, salt, sugar, or sprinkled with a little white wine. The ingredients are continuously stirred by the cook, sometimes gently squeezed to let the spices soak into the shrimp.

Ms. Huynh Thi Ven, owner of a shrimp paste facility in Cho Moi hamlet, Long Hoa commune, Go Cong town ( Tien Giang ) said that the secret to creating the flavor of this dish lies in the marinating and mixing of spices: "The mixing step is based on experience and skills, it is difficult to describe the dosage and taste."

The mixture of shrimp and ingredients after marinating, is put into the blender. This is the part that in the past, the workers had to put the shrimp into the stone mortar, take turns pounding, then pureeing.

The most laborious stage is mechanized, so a viscous mixture quickly appears, with a color similar to fish sauce when finished.

The next step is manual, using a sieve tray to separate the liquid from the coarse matter. The filtered puree flows down, while the remaining solids remain on the tray. Ms. Ven shared that this rubbing and filtering action explains why it is called shrimp paste.

Not only does it have a pretty eye-catching color, the juice from the shrimp paste mixed with the spices now has a faint scent that stimulates the taste buds. This shimmering liquid will become shrimp paste, and the dry part will be mixed with the shrimp to make shrimp paste.

Drying and curing fish sauce is also an important step that has been improved in a convenient and modern way with the greenhouse solution. Previously, people had to dry fish sauce outdoors for 15-20 days, and had to carry it out when it rained. Now, with greenhouses, fish sauce only needs to be dried for a week to 10 days to be delicious. Fish sauce will not be sticky if dried in the sun for too long, and if dried in the sun for too long, the fish sauce will not be ripe.

There are now some places that have learned the experience of producing shrimp paste, but the flavor cannot compare to the original in Go Cong. This is said to be due to the skills and secrets passed down through many generations that people in other places do not have, and partly because the feeling of a specialty has been imprinted in the minds of many people.

When preserved well, shrimp paste can be kept for many months without spoiling. This type of fish sauce has a mild taste and is not as strong as many other types of fish sauce. With a bowl of Go Cong shrimp paste as the centerpiece on the dining table, there will usually be accompanying vegetables such as green star fruit, green banana, long beans, basil, etc. Wrapped in rice paper or eaten with hot rice, it is very "appetizing".

Folklore has it that “No matter who goes up or down the Tra River, stop by to eat rice vermicelli with Go Cong shrimp paste”. From an ancient Southern dipping sauce, now shrimp paste has become a bold highlight of Vietnamese cuisine , rustic yet delicious.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/ve-go-cong-coi-cha-tom-ra-mam-ngon-nuc-tieng-185230716110924477.htm