A dish with a taste of home.

As every year, on the afternoon of the 30th of Tet (Lunar New Year's Eve), after my father and I lit incense at the ancestral graves on my paternal side to invite our ancestors to celebrate Tet, my father and I went to my eldest uncle's house to offer prayers and light incense for my maternal grandparents. After the prayers, while we were sitting and drinking green tea with my aunt, my younger cousin returned from the fields. I ran to look by the well and saw a whole basin of small shrimp, glistening brightly in the late afternoon sun, looking incredibly fresh. It was the product of setting traps (a tool for catching fish and shrimp...). After a while of playful greetings and teasing, my cousin, famous for his skill in catching fish, happily cleaned the basin of shrimp, selected the best ones, and "measured" out two bowls of them for me to take home in a plastic bag.

I still remember, to get these fresh, delicious shrimp, when we were kids, the young cowherds would go to school in the morning and herd buffalo and cut grass in the afternoon. Walking along the newly harvested rice paddies, their "professional eye" would spot a puddle that seemed to have a lot of fish and shrimp, so they would break off a branch and stick it in to claim their share. Then, a group of three or four kids would gather to build a dike and catch the fish.

The embankment had to be very sturdy, so that when the water level inside gradually decreased while the water level outside remained full, the embankment wouldn't break. Otherwise, all the hard work we children put in all afternoon would be wasted. When this rice field (pond, pool) was almost completely drained, and when most of the "valuable" fish and shrimp had been caught, we children would start collecting the small shrimp. The lowest and steepest spot (like the bottom of a slope) was filled with the densest woven basket to direct the catch from all directions. To be more thorough and catch all the fish, shrimp, and small prawns, we would gather everything from the pond together. When the water receded, we'd see the small, hand-sized mussels with shells mixed with mud, but most abundant were the small shrimp. The small shrimp would jump and frolic on the collecting basket like rice being winnowed or seedlings being sown, a very amusing sight. This small, delicious, and sweet creature, besides being food for humans, also serves as bait for small fishing rods and is a source of livelihood for countless flocks of egrets, herons, pelicans, cormorants... characteristic birds of the rice paddies of Northern Vietnam.

Taking the shrimp my younger brother gave me home, I washed the special gift clean and turned on the stove to fry them. The small, rice-field shrimp, when fried, didn't turn bright red but rather a pale pinkish-white, their bodies plump and promising. The pot of fried shrimp, occasionally mixed with a few medium-sized prawns, was seasoned with a little seasoning powder, Le Gia fish sauce (a Thanh Hoa specialty), a few chopped bird's eye chilies, and a few finely chopped lime leaves, then marinated.

While waiting for the shrimp to marinate, I prepared the fresh vegetables. My mother knows I like to eat fresh, clean vegetables from our garden, so she always stocks up on plenty every year. The lettuce is plump, the romaine lettuce is just the right age (not too old to be bitter, not too young to be easily bruised), there are a few cloves of fresh garlic chopped, and one or two bunches of herbs. After preparing them, I soaked them in a bowl of saline solution, rinsed them thoroughly, shook off the excess water, and then returned them to the pan with the stir-fried shrimp.

Turn the stove back on, stir for a while, and a rich, earthy aroma will spread. The scent of mother earth, of the countryside, of deliciousness, of fresh seafood infused with rich spices. My younger sister, busy preparing the meal for Dad's New Year's Eve offering, turned around and asked, "Uncle, what are you making? The smell alone is making my mouth water!"

And so, two bowls of fried shrimp, two baskets of fresh vegetables, and a few ripe starfruit from our garden "accompanied" the chicken, pork rib and potato soup, pork sausage, pork fat with pickled onions... my whole family was delighted to have a unique, hot, fresh, and delicious dish steeped in the flavors of the countryside, and we praised it throughout both the New Year's Eve and New Year's Day meals.

Imagine this: half a spoonful of fresh, stir-fried river shrimp with lime leaves, wrapped around a few tender green lettuce leaves,加上 a slice of fresh star fruit, dipped into a bowl of rich fish sauce garnished with bright red chili peppers, and then savored. The fresh, sweet, and refreshing taste of the shrimp melts in your mouth, blending with the crispness of various garden vegetables and fruits, washed down with a sip of strong rice wine from a bottle with a banana leaf stopper…

Well, even now, as I'm writing this, I'm still swallowing hard.

*Notes by author Le Hong Lam on the occasion of the Lunar New Year of the Rabbit, 2023

Le Hong Lam