Crispy fried linh fish is the easiest way to process. To make it tasty, cooks
usually choose small fish, about half a little finger. Fish are cleaned with
water. Punctilious people then eliminate guts in fish stomach, slime the fish
using salt. Then soak the fish in flour. Flour for coating is not very fussy;
you only need wheat flour or soaked fried flour which are available in markets
and then add egg yolk. Fish are soaked into the flour mixture, then fried in
oiled pan. This dish is often served with fresh vegetables, and chili fish
sauce. Fried fish taste sweet, greasy, and crispy along with the taste of
vegetables, which is very unique.
Linh fish can also be processed more other rustic delicacies: linh fish cooked
with sauce added pepper, sugar cane, or unsalted; linh fish sour soup with cork
flower, kae flower or lau mam (hotpot with fermented fish). Cooking these
dishes is also simple and quick. With dishes cooked with sauce, fish after
being washed (keep scales), slimed, only need to be marinated with spice,
coconut milk and fish sauce. The fish pot then only needs to be put on
smoldering fire, when the fragrance of the fish is pervasively spread means the
dish is cooked. Although it seems to be fussy and eye-catching, linh fish sour
soup with cork flower is extremely simple. Siamese coconut milk is used as
broth, added a little tamarind and spice. Then add a little garlic, rice paddy
herb to make the dish more moreish. You just wait the broth to boil, then add
linh fish into the pot. The fish will be cooked after a few minutes, and served
along with vegetables.
Ms. Phan Thi Hong Nhi, the owner of Nhi Restaurant (O Mon District) said,
"The special feature of dishes in the flooding season is that they are not
too fussy, and can be quickly processed from available ingredients around the
home. You only need 5-10 minutes of processing to have an excellent, delicious
dish. "
The flooding season often carries with it the fresh and tasty produce and those
dishes of the flooding season have become specialties of the Western Region.
Tourists, who once visit the Western Region, shall enjoy those unique
specialties.
Source: Cần Thơ Newspaper - Translated by Ngoc Diep