Every Tet to Spring, Vietnamese people from all over the North to the South, even overseas Vietnamese, and foreign visitors are eager to find and buy delicious and delicious fried fish. gifts like a bold culture of Xuan. The simple taste but permeating the soul of the northern village has created the strange attraction of the fish pots that are meticulously and elaborately processed by the villagers of Vu Dai village.
Vu Dai village (Hoa Hau, Ly Nhan district, Ha Nam) is not a strange name for most Vietnamese people. This is the hometown of immortal characters in Nam Cao’s “Chi Pheo” work such as Ba Kien, Chi Pheo, Thi No. Actually, during the time Nam Cao was still alive, there was no village named Vu Dai in Ha Nam.
The village where Nam Cao was born and raised is called Dai Hoang. In the past, the villagers of Dai Hoang village (now Vu Dai) were very poor, so the meat and fish had to be saved until the Tet holidays to dare to eat. Therefore, people have devised a special way of storing fish, which can be left for a long time, and through January, the food is still delicious as usual.
In order for the fish pot to retain the traditional flavor, the most characteristic aroma, the villagers of Vu Dai still store with firewood with rice husks, but insist on using no other fuel or fuel. Because according to the Vu Dai people, the longan firewood allows the fire to be steady and steady, making the terracotta smell disappear.
Braised fish in Vu Dai village, Ha Nam is different from other Northern villages in that it has built a brand for hundreds of years thanks to its unique traditional warehouse. The fish dish in Vu Dai village is famous for its meat, bone, and fragrant aroma of galangal, ginger, and the taste of fish is unmatched.
The peak season of fish stock in Vu Dai village is every Tet holiday. People put fish pots as gifts, to eat during the Tet holidays to help relieve boredom. At this time, some houses sell 400-600 fish pots / day, which is not enough to serve the needs of customers. From the simple dishes of the people, the fish pot in Vu Dai village, Ha Nam not only improves the life of farmers all year round, selling themselves only to gardens and fields but also gradually recognized as a essence of Vietnamese food.
Some pictures of Braised fish in Vu Dai village:
The important thing that creates the soul, the characteristic of the braised fish in Vu Dai Ha Nam village is clay pot and land swing. If the soil is burned for a long time, the fish will be more delicious. Nieu was ordered as far as Nghe An because the soil is good, can withstand the fire for a batch of fish for at least 16 hours. Also swinging from Thanh Hoa because the type of swing here has an arch shape, the fish warehouse is very convenient.The fish chosen to store must be black carp for snails, not to use other types of fish. The selected black carp are fish weighing approximately 5 kg or more, when they are cut, they will be big, store up to be delicious, have few bones and eat the bones because of their bones.The fish warehouse artist will lay a layer of crushed galangal on the bottom of the pot to prevent the fish from being burned, then the pork and fish ribs. Along with that is seasoning more spices such as galangal, ginger, chopped dried onions, pepper, chili, fish sauce, salt, lemon juice, bitter candy … and some traditional spices then put on the warehouse kitchen. Seasoning must follow a certain standard to bring a completely different flavor and appeal of Braised fish in Vu Dai village.In order for the fish pot to retain the traditional flavor, the most characteristic aroma, the villagers of Vu Dai still store with firewood with rice husks, but insist on using no other fuel or fuel. Because according to the Vu Dai people, the longan firewood allows the fire to be steady and steady, making the terracotta smell disappear.Cook the fish in medium heat, keep it at a boiling point for 16-20 hours, until only 1 teaspoon of water is left. In the process, the worker has to spread rice husks continuously to adjust the fire level as well as add boiling water in time. It is just as hard as when boiling banh chung, people have to take turns sleeping to send people to look after the fish. Families with few people have to stay up all night to store fish.Vu Dai fish stock has a beautiful dark brown color, firm flesh, soft fish bones, not salty, taste.
