Thac lac fish cooked with bitter gourd is very good to cool down heat from inside the body and helps to improve weak patients (Photo: VNA)Hau Giang (VNA) - Nature has particularlybounteous in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang, providing water loadedwith minerals that is home to the most delicious thac lac fish (clownknife fish) compared with other regions in the country. The flesh is fragrant,firm and crisp-skinned.
Cha ca thac lac (fried thac lac fish), one of specialties of HauGiang, is a dish every visitor should try when visiting the province.
The dish is the pride of Hau Giang people, according to Huynh Thi Phuong, 66,who has sold the fish for several decades.
"I sell several hundreds of cha ca thac lac a day to locals andvisitors, including foreigners,” said Phuong.
She said that to make a good dish, she often woke up early in the morning to goto the seashore to buy fresh fish - meaning the meat is firm, the eyes lookpure and green while the gills are light red. “Fish with red eyes, and softmeat is not suitable for making cha,” said Phuong.
The fish can be made into soup with bitter gourd, steamed, braised, fried andused in hotpots. Phuong said cha ca thac lac was available inrestaurants and at luxury parties. It was also a good gift for relatives andfriends.
Hanoian Bui Thu Nga said that she was happy to join Phuong make the dishby cutting off all the lean meat and then mixing it with dried onions, garlic,peppers, MSG, sugar and salt to clear out any fishy smell for an hour. It isthen placed in a stone grinder and regularly pounded until the meat is thickand pink-while before shaping it into small balls and frying them until theyturn yellow.
“The dish should be eaten with rau ngo (coriander) and mui tau (sawtooth)to add taste,” said Phuong.
Fried cha ca thac lac is so tasty and delicious that it lures all gourmets (Photo: VNA) Apart from cha ca, she also invited Nga to enjoy thac lac fishhotpot with bitter gourd. “It is a great dish that you should try,” she added.
Ingredients include broth stewed from pork bones, vegetables and herbs, butspinach and rau dot choai (a local herb). They are all tossed intothe broth for five minutes before eating.
The hotpot is eaten with vermicelli or noodles. The crispy and sweet fish isdipped into a bowl of fish sauce with chili. It’s unforgettable.
“I really enjoy the aroma of the broth, herbs, and crispy bitter gourd. I thinkall gourmets would fall for it," said Nga.
Nga is right. My family also enjoyed the dish as she gave me a package ofsteamed cha ca thac lac, telling me to fry it before eating.
She also taught me to cook one more dish made from the fish. It is crispy friedthac lac fish mixed with chili and sa (lemongrass). The fish cut into piecesand mixed with spices and citronella for an hour and then dry it under thesunlight for half an hour before frying. "No one can hold his/her appetitewhen its fragrant and aromatic flavored flying around," she said.
The dish is very suitable at a reception of visitors or sipping a glass ofwine, Nga said.
Herbalist NguyenVan Tuat of the National Hospital of Traditional Medicine, saidstewed thac lac fish with bitter gourd helped cool the heat frominside the body. He said it was good for patients with blood hypertension,diabetes, cholesterol and loss a sleep.
Because it is sweet and has no strong elements it is also very good for bloodcirculation and the kidneys. And, last but not least, it helps reduce pain frompatients with rheumatism, and laxatives.
Minced thac lac fish is particularly good for slow growing children,pregnant women and weak elderly people. - VNA
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