4 delicious specialties of Nghe An made from eel

Among Nghe specialties, eel cuisine is a typical dish. Eel meat is soft, delicious when cooked and has a very high nutritional value. The rich source of nutrients, vitamins and minerals makes eel a food that helps sick people and the elderly recover their health, children develop physically, and pregnant mothers nourish their bodies.

Eel is also good for the eyes, brain, and improves memory. In particular, eel contains little saturated fat, making it an ideal food for patients with diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Eel meat also replenishes blood, preventing iron deficiency anemia. In addition, eel meat brings more specific health benefits for women such as reducing wrinkles and improving skin health, nourishing skin, hair and nails thanks to the large collagen content in eel.

4 món đặc sản xứ Nghệ ngon quên sầu từ lươn - Ảnh 1. — Eel meat is soft, delicious when cooked and has very high nutritional value.

According to Oriental medicine, eel meat has a sweet taste, warm properties, nourishes the spleen and stomach meridians, has the effect of nourishing blood and qi, warming yang, benefiting the spleen, nourishing the liver and kidneys, strengthening tendons and bones, dispelling wind and eliminating dampness, treating fatigue, coughs and asthma, diabetes, aching tendons and bones, body weakness, internal hemorrhoids, rheumatism, and leucorrhea in women.

Eels have such high nutritional value that they are processed into many different dishes such as eel porridge, eel vermicelli, eel hotpot, eel soup, grilled eel... but in the famous specialties of Nghe An, there are dishes such as braised eel with banana and bean, stir-fried eel with eggplant, stir-fried eel with lemongrass and chili, and eel porridge.

1. Stir-fried eel with eggplant

Ingredient:

Choose eels with a short body, brown back and dark yellow belly, they are delicious eels. Clean the eels by putting them in a pot, adding salt and covering the lid tightly. At this time, the eels will be sore and writhe vigorously. Remove the slime from the eels, wash the eels and cut them into pieces. You can also buy pre-cooked eels.

- Cleaned eel: 0.3kg

- Eggplant: 0.5kg

- Shallots, turmeric powder, fish sauce, spices, pepper (or 1 red chili), cooking oil, betel leaves, perilla leaves, green onions.

Making:

- Cleaned eel, cut into 3cm pieces, marinate with crushed shallots, turmeric powder, fish sauce, spices, pepper (or chili) for 30 minutes

- Thinly slice eggplant (split into 4), soak in diluted salt water for about 10 minutes to remove all the eggplant sap, then remove and rinse with clean water and drain.

- Add a spoonful of oil to the pan and a little crushed shallots to fry until fragrant. When the shallots start to turn yellow and smell fragrant, add the marinated eel and stir-fry. When stir-frying, use the highest heat possible. Stir-fry for about 5 minutes until the eel is cooked, then pour the eel onto a plate.

- Add a spoonful of cooking oil to the pan where you stir-fried the eel. When the oil is hot, add the eggplant and stir-fry with a little seasoning. Stir-fry the eggplant until it is half-cooked, then add the eel and stir-fry the eggplant and eel. After about 2 minutes, add the betel leaves, perilla, and chopped green onions and stir-fry for about 1 minute.

4 món đặc sản xứ Nghệ ngon quên sầu từ lươn - Ảnh 2. — Finished product of stir-fried eel with eggplant, a specialty of Nghe An.

2. Eel braised with banana and bean

Ingredient:

- 2 medium sized eels, clean slime, remove bones.

- 80g ground crispy pork shoulder, grind and mix with a little tapioca starch, seasoning powder and chopped betel leaves. Roll fried betel leaf sausage.

- 1 piece of pork belly, browned edges.

- 1 piece of tofu, cut into small pieces and fried until golden brown.

- A few green bananas, peeled, cut into pieces and boiled briefly.

- 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges.

- Spices, yeast, apple cider vinegar, herbs: onion, coriander, perilla, betel leaves, crushed garlic.

How to cook:

- Cut eel into pieces, put the lolot sausage in the middle, roll it up.

Use string to secure, add a little cooking oil to the pan, pan-fry until golden brown.

- Saute tomatoes + beans + bananas until fragrant, add pork belly + eel and saute until fragrant, add a little fish sauce + filtered water and cook until tomatoes are soft.

- Add enough boiled water to cool, cover the pot and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Next, season to taste, add 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or wine yeast for fragrance, finally add herbs and garlic and it's done. The braised eel pieces are fragrant and extremely attractive.

Gợi ý cách làm 5 món ngon ăn — Braised eel with banana and tofu served hot with vermicelli and herbs is delicious.

Scoop braised eel with banana and bean into a bowl, eat hot with vermicelli and herbs will be delicious.

3. Stir-fried eel with lemongrass and chili

Ingredient

- 400g fresh eel meat

- Lemongrass, fresh chili, Vietnamese coriander

- 1 tablespoon fish sauce

- 1 teaspoon annatto oil color

- ½ teaspoon salt

- 1 teaspoon MSG

4 món đặc sản xứ Nghệ ngon quên sầu từ lươn - Ảnh 4.

Making:

- Clean the eel by putting it in a pot, adding salt and covering it tightly. At this time, the eel will feel pain and struggle vigorously. Remove the slime from the eel's body. Wash the eel and cut it into pieces. You can also buy pre-cooked eel.

- Lemongrass and chili, chopped.

- Marinate eel with 1 teaspoon minced lemongrass, 1 teaspoon annatto oil and ½ teaspoon salt.

- Place the pan on the stove, add oil and sauté lemongrass, turn on high heat, add eel and stir well with 1 tablespoon of fish sauce. When the eel is firm, reduce the heat to low, add chili. When the water in the pan is almost dry, add Vietnamese coriander and 1 teaspoon of MSG, stir well and turn off the heat.

4 món đặc sản xứ Nghệ ngon quên sầu từ lươn - Ảnh 5. — Stir-fried eel with lemongrass and chili is very delicious and attractive.

4. Nghe An eel porridge

Ingredient

- 1kg cleaned eel meat

- Delicious rice

- Herbs: Vietnamese coriander, green onions, pepper, shallots, cilantro

- Spices: Fish sauce, salt, seasoning powder, MSG, Northern pepper, chili powder, salt, turmeric powder (or annatto powder)

How to prepare:

Boil the eel to get the water (if you don't have eel water, use pork bone water), then marinate and stir-fry with spices including: pepper, shallots, chili powder, seasoning powder, turmeric powder (or annatto powder) until the color comes out. Then fry the onions with oil in a pan and add the marinated eel and stir-fry until cooked.

The porridge is simmered with pork and beef bones, then a little bit of country rice mixed with clean, washed sticky rice is added. What is more special about Nghe An eel porridge is that the rice grains must be kept whole and not crushed or ground into powder. The porridge is simmered thoroughly, the rice grains expand but do not break, the porridge is smooth, not too thick or too thin.

4 món đặc sản xứ Nghệ ngon quên sầu từ lươn - Ảnh 6. — Nghe An eel porridge

Enjoy:

When the porridge is done, place the pot on a charcoal stove with a small fire, the pot must always be simmering. Scoop the porridge into a bowl, then scoop in an appropriate amount of eel, then add seasonings such as coriander, green onions, chopped Vietnamese coriander, and sliced chili. When eating, squeeze a little lemon to have a delicious bowl of porridge full of flavor.

Note: Eel has high nutritional value but you should not eat undercooked eel. People with gout, high blood fat, and children under 1 year old should avoid this dish.