HANOI – near Tet, Dong Cao village, Me Linh district bustling with grilled fish to eat and sell to the market.

From December 20, people in Dong Cao village (Trang Viet, Me Linh district, Hanoi) are busy preparing smoked fish dishes for Tet to give and sell.

In the center of the village, many small traders in the area import fish from all over the world to serve the needs of the people. Ms. Nguyen Thi Nghia (Noi Dong village, Dai Thinh commune), 8 km from Dong Cao village, said that every Tet holiday, the family pulls fish from the lagoon to sell to people. “Relied by the people, every year, we sell nearly 2 tons of fish in 6 days,” Nghia said.

Smoked fish is carp, floating fish of 3 kg or more, small belly. Fresh fish is cleaned, cut into pieces, salted so that the fish is not fishy, ​​then washed.

The pieces of fish are placed on the slats, tied tightly and then put on the grill. Grilled fish is a kind of bamboo cake, fresh, not too old, not too young. During the smoking process, the water from the bamboo seeps into the fish, creating a sweet aroma.

Each Tet, Mr. Nguyen Van Nghia’s family bakes nearly 200 fen for about a week. Work starts from early morning until midnight.

When broiling, it is necessary to continuously stir each filter, the time to complete the fish is from 8 to 10 hours.

According to Mr. Nghia, firewood for smoking fish must be longan, prepared by the family many months in advance. This firewood has the advantage that the fire does not burn through, the temperature is not too hot, and it burns for a long time.

When the fish reaches firmness, the outside turns brown cockroach wings. Each kilo of smoked fish sells for 200,000 VND, mainly to customers in Hanoi and Vinh Phuc.($1=24,000 VND)

These days, all the streets of Dong Cao village can see smoke, the smell of grilled fish is strong. Many families gather at one point and then cook together, take turns flipping the fish, turning on the fire so that the fish is delicious and golden.

“When I was a child, I saw my parents grill fish every Tet. In the past, Dong Cao village had many ponds and lagoons, harvested a lot of fish at the end of the year, so people thought of a way to smoke it to preserve it for a long time. Gradually, fish Smoked has become an indispensable dish for people during Tet,” said Mr. Vu Van Thin, 73 years old, in hamlet 4 of Dong Cao village.

For nearly 10 years, the village has added a dish of grilled fish in a clay pot. The ingredients are still smoked carp, after two times of fire (10 hours) the fish is put into the pot, adding spices, chili, shiitake, spices, bacon, and then pouring coconut water into the stock.

Braised fish should not be too hot and cook for about 14 hours. Fish meat must be firm but rotten bones, fragrant smoke, sweet coconut water, not dry. Each pot of black carp sells from 500,000 to 800,000 VND.

 ( According to vnexpress )