Linh fish in flood season

Linh fish hotpot with water mimosa flowers.

Fish never "break a promise"

The tenth lunar month is also the season for fish to go to the rivers in the West. The flow from the upper Mekong River is distributed to the major rivers throughout the delta.

Shrimp and fish also follow the water down to rivers and canals. More than half of the fish that come here are linh fish. Anyone who goes to the West without enjoying linh fish, that trip is considered incomplete.

Why do Westerners call the linh fish the soul of the flood season? Because this fish has never failed them. Every year, when the flood season comes, people see the image of this fish again, as the most special sign of the year.

The linh fish is also a unique fish because of its strange growth process. “Every year, from the spawning grounds in Tonle Sap Lake (Cambodia), schools of linh fish eggs drift downstream along the Mekong River.

The eggs hatched as they floated, and when they reached the Mekong River, they became schools of tiny fish swimming downstream with the silt. The fish grew up gradually through the “nomadic” process, then crept through the canals and fields to eat rotten straw and residue from the fields after the harvest season” (excerpt from the book “Thousand Miles of Mud” - Le Quang Trang).

During this season, linh fish is also a delicious dish that the generous Westerners prioritize to treat guests from afar. From Long An , Dong Thap, Can Tho to An Giang, along the way, when stopping at restaurants or rest stops, everywhere you can see linh fish served with dien dien flowers, lotus flowers, wild vegetables... present on the menu.

Depending on the size of the linh fish (growing time), people in the West have ways to prepare delicious dishes accordingly. The beginning of the flood season is the time when the rivers of the West welcome an endless source of young linh fish.

The linh fish is tiny but has a delicious sweetness. That sweetness is probably partly due to the fact that it is nurtured in the red alluvial soil of the delta. The linh fish is also the cleanest river fish. In the linh fish's belly, besides the rice straw of the delta, there is only a few tiny plankton.

Delta delicacies

Young linh fish braised in bland sauce, mixed with wild vegetables. A handful of water lily flowers is crispy, a few chopsticks are slightly bitter on the tip of the tongue but have a sweet aftertaste when dipped in the braised linh fish sauce. The young linh fish is only the size of a little finger, soft in the mouth, it seems to go away quickly but the fatty taste is still deep. Therefore, few people who eat young linh fish can forget it quickly. The nostalgia for a quintessential dish of the delta region can turn into a craving, strangely enough!

Braised catfish with pepper.

Young linh fish dipped in batter and fried until crispy, dipped in sweet and sour fish sauce, and served with raw vegetables is also a delicious dish. This dish must be eaten immediately after frying, pick a piece of fish that has just drained of oil, and add some fresh vegetables; the crunchiness of the batter coating on the outside quickly leaves room for the soft, melting fish inside.

A little more elaborate, more party-like dish is linh fish hotpot served with water mimosa flowers, water mimosa, water lily flowers, etc. A sumptuous meal during the flood season without a linh fish hotpot is missing the most exciting part. Therefore, linh fish hotpot is still a dish that is “passed down by word of mouth” among tourists .

Drinkers love batches of young linh fish, each one plump and full of fat, grilled on a charcoal stove, fragrant. Whether it’s a windy afternoon or a deserted night, as long as there’s a batch of linh fish dripping fat on the charcoal stove, the story of life continues like a vọng cổ song that doesn’t know when it will end. And once it’s done, they pick up a piece of fragrant bait, drink a cup of rice wine with a “crack” sound, it’s so satisfying, like touching the soul of the homeland.

The afternoon meal on the flood plains can be enjoyed on a boat drifting somewhere along the rivers and canals of the plains, smelling the scent of linh fish stewed in all sorts of flavors: stewed with pepper, stewed with salt, stewed with bland spices, stewed with star fruit, stewed with pineapple... That smell is enough to make the villagers, no matter how far away they are, still cling to the thread of nostalgia for their homeland.

When the linh fish is big and the bones are hard, the people of the West use it to make fish sauce. The linh fish sauce has a fragrant smell of roasted rice powder and is the "best fish sauce" of the delta. Field vegetables and water lilies dipped in the fish sauce are as delicious as the love of the people of the West. Because when guests return, the gifts the people of the West leave behind are several jars of the famous linh fish sauce of the delta!

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/ca-linh-mua-nuoc-noi-3144014.html