Delicious dishes from Lam River clams

(Baonghean.vn) - The Lam River flowing through Hung Nguyen near the estuary has provided the local people with a unique natural resource, including an abundant source of clams. Clams can be processed into many dishes, not only providing delicious, clean food, but also creating jobs and income for hundreds of households in the downstream area of ​​the Lam River.

Cay has many areas at the end of Lam river in the communes of Hung Nguyen district.

Mussels are animals that live in brackish water areas along rivers. In Hung Nguyen, people in communes along Lam River such as Hung Loi, Hung Nhan, Hung Khanh, Hung Lam, Hung Phu… often go to catch mussels to improve their meals and earn extra income.

Clam meat contains a lot of protein and is used to prepare many dishes, among which clam sauce is a delicious dish that many people love. According to the experience of women living along the river, to make a batch of delicious clam sauce, they must choose to catch clams on dark moonlit days when the clams are firm, fat, and have a lot of meat.

"Wash the clams thoroughly, soak them in salt water, then rinse them with boiled water. After that, remove the apron and back, put them in a mortar and pound them or use a blender to puree them, add cooled boiled water, stir well, and squeeze out the juice. In addition to the main ingredient of clams, other ingredients such as galangal, tangerine peel, ginger, shallots, roasted salt, and rice bran are indispensable when making clam sauce." Ms. Dau Thi Tuat, Hong Lam hamlet, Hung Loi commune, shared.

Clams are cleaned and processed into delicious dishes. Photo by Thanh Tam

After pounding the clams to get the juice, mix it with the ingredients in the ratio of 1 kg of clams, 0.4 kg of shallots, 0.3 kg of peeled fresh tangerines, 0.25 kg of fish, 0.25 kg of ginger, 0.5 grams of chili powder, chili powder, roasted salt and brown rice, cook into rice, dry and roast until golden brown to make bait.

The ingredients are finely ground and mixed with the fermented fish sauce for 20-30 days until the mature fish sauce is ready to eat. The mature fish sauce has a cockroach brown color with a strong aroma and a sour and spicy taste. It is delicious when used as a dip for boiled meat, pickled onions, pickled vegetables, boiled bamboo shoots, and sweet potato leaves.

Ms. Tran Thi Muoi in Hung Loi commune said: “Since the time of our ancestors, we have known how to catch clams and process them into many dishes and clam sauce for later use. At first, the products were only for family use and as gifts, but later many people asked to buy them, so we made more to sell.”

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Mam cay is processed by Hung Nguyen Women's Association. Each liter of mam cay is currently sold for 300,000 VND.

Hung Loi fish sauce is currently produced on a small scale in households, with unstable output and not yet known to many consumers. The Women's Union and Farmers' Association of Hung Loi commune have established a fish sauce production cooperative to promote the value of the local specialty product.

With the advantage of being located along the Lam River in the lower reaches where the tides rise and fall, the water is salty, and the clam resources are abundant, Hung Loi has hundreds of workers who specialize in catching clams and processing clam sauce. If the clam sauce products are consumed strongly, it will contribute to the good exploitation of aquatic resources and provide the market with a source of clean, nutritious food, creating jobs and income for hundreds of workers in the area.

Thanh Tam