The previous afternoon, the wind was howling, the sky was covered with dark clouds. Heavy rain cooled the fields of the Central region, leaving behind stubble after many days of drought. At dusk, the fields were wet, water was rising in the low-lying areas. Frogs, toads, and water bugs...
Eagerly leaving the cave, they sang a song calling for their mate like a bustling choir in the countryside. The rain gradually stopped. The friends, flashlights in hand, net baskets on their hips, strode out into the fields.
The cool breeze caresses your skin after a suffocating night of hot weather due to the long, hot sun. Flashlights sweep across the fields, voices and laughter seem to awaken the night. Feet step lightly, hands quickly catch the frogs that are blinded by the light. After a few hours, you return home with a heavy mesh basket hanging from your waist. The frogs are placed in a wide jar, on top of which is a thin bamboo sieve.
The next day, take the frogs out of the jar, rub them with coarse salt, and use a knife to remove the intestines. The slime and fishy smell will be gone when you wash them with vinegar and fish sauce. Go to the garden and cut a bunch of green chives and dig up fresh yellow turmeric. Peel the turmeric, wash it, and pound it. Wash the chives and cut them into short pieces. Put the frogs in a blender with salt, pepper, sugar, chili, and thinly sliced shallots.
Boil a pan of peanut oil, then add frog meat and shallots and stir-fry with fresh turmeric until cooked, then remove from the stove. Wash the rice and put it in a pot of water and boil it on a low flame. When the rice blooms like pure white flowers floating in the water, add the stir-fried meat and shallots into the pot. After a while, season to taste, add chives, sprinkle some ground pepper and turn off the stove. You have a rustic porridge, full of the flavor of the countryside after a summer storm.
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