‘Lau mam ca linh’ is a must-try delight in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. This delicacy guarantees a mouthwatering culinary experience with its rich and flavorful broth, accentuated by the pungent yet delicious fermented fish sauce, which is a local specialty ingredient.

Attractive ‘linh’ fish sauce hotpot serve at the Young rice - Countryside cuisine eatery located on Duc Loi 2 street, Thuan Phuoc Ward, Hai Chau District, Da Nang. Photo: H.L

In culinary culture, ‘linh’ (Henicorhynchus) fish sauce and ‘dien dien’ (Sesbania) flowers are two indispensable ingredients to make the famous fish sauce hotpot.

The hot pot is served on the table with a plate of fresh fish and a basket of Sesbania flowers, water spinach and other types of bitter herbs sourced in the Mekong Delta.

The fish sauce is a type of fish sauce made from ‘linh’ fish, a small fish that lives in the Mekong Delta rivers.

After catching the fish, people wash it, salt it, and wait for it to be fermented for a long time. The fish sauce features a characteristic aroma, strong and bitter taste. It is often used as an ingredient for hot pot cooking or as a spice for other dishes.

Like flexible fish, fish sauce hotpot cannot lack Sesbania flowers, a sweet-tasting flower that blooms during the flood season.

Considered to be a culinary specialty of the Mekong Delta region, the ingredients to make fish sauce hot pot are not too sophisticated but impress with the rich broth, fragrant with lemongrass, chili and a little sweetness from sugar to balance the flavor.

The fish sauce hot pot has the sweet taste of pork bones, snakehead fish, basa fish, beef, shrimp, squid, eggplant and the characteristic bitter taste of ‘linh’ fish.

During the floating season, the hot pot often has fresh fish with fatty egg belly. People often eat fish sauce hotpot with fresh vermicelli and river vegetables, creating a balance between aroma, taste and colour. When savoring this dish, you will be taken on a memorable dive into the rich tapestry of Vietnamese culinary heritage.

In Da Nang, to enjoy this rustic yet attractive dish, you can go to ‘Lua non-Am thuc cuoc song (Young rice - Countryside cuisine) eatery located on Duc Loi 2 street, Thuan Phuoc Ward, Hai Chau District.

Here, in addition to the above-mentioned dish, diners can also experience a number of other rustic dishes such as stir-fried field shrimp with Sesbania flowers, crispy fried field rice, Quang land’s baby veal, ‘banh trang cuon thit heo’ (Sliced pork wrapped in rice paper rolls), stir-fried mussels and hot pot of field crabs or eels wrapped in banana leaves.

Reporting by HUYNH LE – Translating by A.THU