Must-try dishes during flood season

When the floodwaters covered the rice fields, the linh fish retreated into the water to escape the strong winds and waves. At that time, the fish were as big as the tip of a little finger, and were called young linh fish. At the same time, the dien dien (water mimosa) had also begun to bloom. The water had flooded the fields, so the ma (wild) lotus had also begun to appear.

Young linh fish has sweet meat, soft bones, and is fatty, so it can be made into any dish. But the most delicious and famous dish is still sour soup. Linh fish only needs to add the flowers of the So Dua tree to have a bowl of hot and fragrant sour soup. Or just a few young tamarinds or fresh lemons, plus a few basil shoots, fresh chili, we can still have a rustic soup to eat with braised fish. However, for gourmets, sour soup with linh fish is incomparable to the flowers of the Dien Dien tree or the Ma lotus tree. For local people, this is truly an incomparable delicacy, because linh fish is a natural fish that is only available during the flood season, and Dien Dien tree is the same.

Sour soup with water mimosa flowers

The market is far away, the house is surrounded by water, at a family gathering, the Western women once again show their flexibility with a "delicious, unique, strange" banh xeo party made from linh fish and dien dien flowers. Dien dien flowers replace bean sprouts, clean and minced linh fish is stir-fried instead of shrimp and meat filling. It seems that the couple linh fish - dien dien flowers were born for each other, so when combined, every dish is delicious, and banh xeo is no exception.

Grilled goby fish

During the flood season, if the water mimosa reminds people of sour soup or linh fish pancakes, then the lotus flower makes people crave braised lotus flower fish sauce. During this season, no one chooses to eat purple lotus flower (planted lotus flower) because the wild lotus flower is abundant and much softer and sweeter. As for the fish sauce, they will take the red fish sauce, filter out the residue and put it in a pot to cook with coconut water, pork belly, perch, snakehead fish and lemongrass and chili. When the pot of fish sauce boils, people will skim off the foam a few times and then take it out to eat hot with lotus flower and some other raw vegetables. The rich, slightly spicy taste of the braised fish sauce combined with the sweetness and crunchiness of lotus flower has created a wonderful rustic dish for the Dong Thap region during the flood season.

Dong Thap Dragon Blood Lotus Rice

In addition to fish, frogs are also plentiful this season. The fields are flooded, so people do not have time to catch frogs with conventional tools such as flashlights or fishing rods, but instead use nets to catch more and save effort. Flood season frogs are usually big, plump, with plump and firm thighs. Looking at them, Western women immediately think of frogs stir-fried with galangal leaves or stir-fried with coconut milk. For men who like to drink, grilled frogs with lemongrass and chili or grilled with mo are the best.

Linh fish hotpot with water mimosa flowers

When it comes to delicious specialties that cannot be missed during the flood season, we definitely cannot miss the field mouse dish. When the water starts to overflow the fields, the mice have no choice but to find high mounds or tall treetops to take shelter for the day. And this is also a golden opportunity for field mouse hunters. This season, mice are both an opportunity for people in flooded areas to earn extra income and a source of culinary inspiration for women to show off their skills in making delicious dishes.

Fried elephant ear fish

When talking about rats, we cannot help but think of Cao Lanh (Dong Thap), which is considered the "wholesale market" for rat meat for diners everywhere. And Cao Lanh is also the birthplace of the famous dish of roasted rat meat. However, for people in the floodplain, rat meat can be processed into many different dishes such as stir-fried, shredded, fried with fat, boiled with fermented rice, stir-fried with lemongrass and chili, wrapped with raw vegetables and rice paper... But the most delicious and famous is still the dish of roasted rat. When tasting a piece of field rat meat with crispy skin, soft, fragrant and rich meat, no less than deer meat, you will understand why this is one of the famous specialties of Dong Thap that we cannot ignore.

Cuisine is not just the art of preparing food. For Westerners, it is a way to cherish and preserve the priceless products of the flood season.

Article: Phat Nguyen | Photo: Nam Chay

The Thanh