Random thoughts… about fish and eels

(Baonghean)I read in the press that among the 12 Vietnamese dishes recognized by the Asian Record Organization as having Asian culinary value, there is the eel vermicelli dish from Nghe An, which suddenly made me feel nostalgic…

When talking about eel vermicelli in Nghe An, one must first mention eel vermicelli in Vinh. Perhaps nowhere else has as many eel vermicelli and eel porridge restaurants as Vinh. People in Vinh eat eel vermicelli and eel porridge like people in Hanoi eat pho. The eel vermicelli is internationally delicious, but without eel fishermen... there would be no eel vermicelli! Thinking about that, I suddenly miss the fishing and eel-catching profession in my hometown.

My hometown, Yen Thanh, besides its specialties like Du rice and Rong sticky rice (which I heard was once offered to the king), is also famous for its abundance of fish and eels. Perhaps due to the abundant water and food sources, the fish and eels in Yen Thanh are much larger and tastier than those from many other places. About thirty years ago, when the Vach Nam drainage canal was being built, the Dinh River dried up, and people caught carp weighing up to half a ton – called "giant fish." Their meat was delicious, and many people said that the fish's entrails were the tastiest they had ever tasted.

In Yen Thanh, there are many families with a long tradition of fishing and making fishing gear. In my village, there's a man named Cu Nhuong who is famous for weaving fish traps and nets. During market days, fishing gear—baskets, nets, traps, etc.—fills a corner of the market. Cu Nhuong's traps and nets are still the most popular. The commune officials warned him: "You're helping those people destroy the cooperative's rice crops by weaving those traps and nets!" Cu Nhuong laughed, and the officials laughed too. In difficult times, people easily sympathize with each other.

In my village, there's also a man named Dau who's very skilled at catching eels. He catches them without any tools. He walks along the bank, looking around, then suddenly he wades into the rice field and pulls up an eel, sometimes as big as an adult's big toe. Dau says he can tell which eels are carrying eggs just by looking at them. He never catches eels that are carrying eggs. He says, "Let them lay their eggs, so we can catch them; don't eat up all of nature's bounty."

I heard that Mr. Dau learned the eel-catching trade from the people of Ru Dat. Ru Dat is a small village in Long Thanh commune (Yen Thanh district), my maternal grandparents' hometown. No one knows when the eel-catching trade started there, but when I was little, I saw the people of Ru Dat going eel-catching all over the country. The whole village went eel-catching. They went empty-handed, only carrying a bag to hold the eels. I remember those winter days, near Tet (Lunar New Year), the sky was heavy with rain, and looking from my house out to the fields in front, I saw figures bobbing up and down in the rain. My father said: "Those are the people of Ru Dat going eel-catching!" When I went to high school in Vinh, on every bus to the city, I saw a few hardworking peasant women with bags of eels beside them. When I asked, they said they were taking them to Vinh to sell to restaurants that sell eel porridge and eel vermicelli. When the bus arrived at the station, they hurriedly got off, and when rickshaw drivers asked them, they shook their heads. Watching them swaying on the streets, I felt a pang in my eyes.

In my hometown, there are many famous fishermen. Besides Mr. Dau, there are Mr. Hoach, Mr. Son, Mr. Hoang… each with their own unique skills. Mr. Hoach is good at spotting fish at night, Mr. Son is good at catching fish during the flood season, and Mr. Hoang specializes in river fishing. The strange thing is that they are all very healthy, but none of them live long. Perhaps the work of catching eels and fish, enduring rain and sun, going out at night so often, causes illnesses to develop without them even realizing it. And also, none of them seem to be well-off.

Once, while in Vinh, I was having drinks with an old school friend, enjoying the local specialty: braised eel with banana blossoms. While we were drinking, I saw a woman carrying a sack of eels to sell to the restaurant owner. I asked her where she was from, and she said Yen Thanh. I asked further, "Are there still many eels left in Yen Thanh?" She replied, "It's rare and valuable. My husband and I spent a whole week searching everywhere just to get this much! We came all the way here to get a better price. It's almost Tet (Lunar New Year)!" Before she finished speaking, she hurried away, her same unsteady gait echoing through the streets.

Sitting and enjoying local specialties with my friend, I feel a lump in my throat.

Phan Xuan Luat (Phu Yen Radio and Television Station)