Why is Nghe An herring especially delicious?

Herring fishing season

March to May is the seasonherringin the coastal areas of Nghe An. Therefore, fishermen take advantage of the opportunity to fish, in addition to large ships fishing far from shore, there are also hundreds of rafts of fishermen from Dien Chau, Quynh Luu... fishing near shore. Because of fishing close to shore, in just 1 night, the herring is still fresh and green, not preserved with ice.

Fishermen in Dien Chau district in the herring fishing season. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Because of the freshness of herrings caught from the sea, traders compete to buy them to supply the market not only in the region but also to transport to other provinces and cities. According to traders, when Nghe An enters the herring fishing season, customers from all over place orders continuously, because they say that herrings of Nghe An are very fresh.Nghe Anvery fatty, more delicious than herring elsewhere.

So why are herrings in the coastal areas of Nghe An so delicious? According to fishermen, herrings can be caught all year round, but the most is from March to the end of May. At this time, herrings are abundant and incredibly fat. Perhaps because there are many planktons in the sea this season, herrings come in schools to look for food.

The herring caught by fishermen in Dien Chau district near the shore is still fresh and green. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Tran Xuan Nhue - Head of the Department of Exploitation and Development of Aquatic Resources - Department of Fisheries said that the characteristics of coastal areasNghe An beachThere are many river mouths and inlets, creating a lot of plankton in the Dien Chau inlet area. At the same time, this season, the coastal area has a lot of sea shrimp, which is an abundant food source for herring. Therefore, herring this season is fatter than other seasons. A decisive factor is that herring must be fresh to be delicious. This is also an advantage of Nghe An, because fishermen fish near the shore for a short time, so when they come ashore, they are still fresh, easy to process into delicious, nutritious dishes.

According to Dien Chau fishermen, with the naked eye, you can distinguish two types of herring: short, flat herring (large width, thin meat) and long herring (small width, long body and thick meat). According to fishermen, long herring is chosen by more customers, so it sells for a higher price than flat herring. If short, flat herring costs 15,000 VND/kg at this time, long herring costs 20,000 VND/kg. And when the tourist season begins to flourish, herring is in high demand and has a good price.

Delicious dishes made from herring

Freshly caught herring from the sea is used by local people as well as restaurants and hotels to prepare many delicious and nutritious dishes.

Herring salad: Photo: Google

One of the delicious and unique dishes is herring salad. Fresh green herring, take 2 parts of breast meat, mix with onion, lemon, raw vegetables, peanuts... roll with rice paper, dip in sweet and sour fish sauce, very attractive. In Nghe An, herring salad is often prepared by restaurants in coastal areas to serve customers during the tourist season.

A popular dish, often found at coastal restaurants and markets, is charcoal-grilled herring. When grilled, the herring has a very eye-catching golden yellow color and a fragrant aroma. Grilled herring can be eaten with fig leaves, rolled up, and dipped in chili salt or a bowl of sweet and sour fish sauce.

Grilled herring. Photo: Google

Crispy fried herring. Fresh herring is coated with a layer of flour, then fried until crispy. This fried dish is served with chili sauce, tomato sauce or sweet and sour fish sauce, guaranteed to be remembered by everyone who eats it.

In addition, there are many other ways to prepare it, such as fried herring with fish sauce, herring spring rolls, herring with tomato sauce, herring braised with pineapple... each dish has its own flavor, but all are delicious and nutritious, because the meat has a sweet, soft and fatty taste, containing a large amount of important nutrients that are good for human health.

During the herring fishing season, visitors to the coastal areas of Nghe An can enjoy many delicious dishes made from fresh herring./.