Like every year, on the afternoon of the 30th of Tet, after lighting incense at the paternal grave with my father to invite the ancestors to come home for Tet, my father and I went to my eldest uncle's house to offer offerings and burn incense for my maternal grandparents. After praying, I was sitting drinking green tea with my aunt when my cousin came back from the fields. I ran out to look at the well and saw a whole pot of copper shrimp, sparkling under the late afternoon sunlight, fresh and bright. The product of setting a trap (a tool to catch fish, shrimp...). After a while of joking and joking with each other, my famous fish-catching younger cousin happily cleaned the pot of shrimp, chose the best part, "measured" two bowls of rice for me to eat and put them in a plastic bag for me to take home.
I still remember, to get this fresh shrimp, when I was young, the shepherd boys went to school in the morning and herded buffaloes and cut grass in the afternoon, walking along the newly harvested fields, their "professional eyes" suddenly saw a puddle that seemed to have a lot of fish and shrimp, so they broke off a branch and stuck it in there to claim a portion. Then a group of three or four kids gathered together to go to the bank to catch fish.
Freshwater shrimps are jumping around in the basket. (Photo collected)
The bank must be built very firmly, so that when the water level inside gradually dries up while the water level outside is still full, the situation of "bank break" will not happen. Otherwise, all the hard work of us children will be wasted. When this field (pool, puddle) has been drained almost dry, and when the most "valuable" fish and shrimp have been caught, then we children start to catch shrimp. The lowest and steepest place (like the end of a slope) has the thickest woven basket to direct the products from everywhere to "flood" in. To be more careful, to catch all the fish, shrimp, and shrimp, we also shout to each other to gather everything from the pool. The shallow water exposes even the mussels the size of a handful with shells mixed with the color of mud, but most of them are shrimp. The shrimps are gathered and jump around on the basket like rice being winnowed or seedlings being sown, a very pleasing sight. This small yet delicious creature, in addition to being food for people, can also be used as bait for small fishing rods and is the source of life for flocks of storks, herons, pelicans, cormorants, etc., typical birds of the rice fields of Northern Vietnam.
Taking the shrimp my younger brother gave me home, I washed the special gift again, turned on the stove and fried the shrimp. The fried rice shrimp did not turn bright red but turned pinkish white, the body plump and full of promise. The pot of fried shrimp occasionally mixed with a few small freshwater shrimps that I sprinkled with seasoning powder, Thanh Hoa specialty Le Gia fish sauce, added a few chili peppers, picked some thinly sliced lemon leaves, mixed them all together and marinated them.
While waiting for the shrimp to absorb the spices, I picked the raw vegetables. My mother knew that I liked to eat fresh vegetables from the garden, so she stocked up every year. Plump lettuce, just the right amount of lettuce (not too old to be bitter, not too young to be bruised), a few chopped fresh garlic stalks, a couple of bunches of herbs. After picking, put them in a basin, sprinkle saline solution on them, wash them, shake off the water, then return to the waiting pot of fried shrimp.
Turn the stove back on, stir constantly for a while, a fragrant "earth-shaking" aroma spreads. (Photo collected)
Turn on the stove again, stir evenly for a while, a fragrant "earth-shaking" aroma spreads out. The smell of mother earth, of the countryside, of deliciousness, of fresh seafood soaked in spices, lingering. The younger sister who was busy preparing rice for her father's New Year's Eve offering had to turn around and ask: "What dish are you making that makes my mouth water just from the smell?"
And so there were two more bowls of fried shrimp with two baskets of raw vegetables and some mild star fruit from the garden "standing side by side" with chicken, potato and rib soup, lean ham with pork head, fatty pork with pickled onions... my whole family was amazed because there was a "one-of-a-kind" dish, hot and fresh, imbued with the flavor of the countryside, making us all praise throughout the New Year's Eve and New Year's Day meals.
Imagine, take half a spoon of fresh shrimp fried with lemon leaves, roll it with some young green lettuce, add a piece of fresh star fruit, dip it in a bowl of thick fish sauce mixed with a few pieces of bright red chili, put it in your mouth to chew. The fresh, sweet and cool shrimp fills your mouth to the roots of your teeth, mixed with the refreshing taste of all kinds of vegetables and fruits from your garden, add a sip of strong rice wine in a bottle with a banana leaf stopper...
Well, even now I'm writing this and I'm still swallowing my saliva.
*Author Le Hong Lam's memoir on the occasion of the Year of the Cat, 2023
