Braised alum fish in clay pot, rustic but delicious!

Alum fish live on the bottom in both saltwater and freshwater environments and are nocturnal.

The average length of the alum fish is 10 - 20 cm and can change color to adapt to the environment. Depending on color and size, the alum fish has different names such as: pink alum fish, yellow, yellow thread, yellow striped..., but the pink alum fish is the largest (some are up to 35 cm long), the smallest is the thread alum fish (only 3 - 4 cm long).

Alum fish has high nutritional value, soft, fatty, sweet meat... Alum fish is skillfully processed by housewives into delicious and attractive dishes such as: alum fish with eggs braised with pork belly, fresh fried with tomato sauce, alum fish made only with sour fish sauce... But there is a delicious, rustic dish that is easy to make and left the most impression on me during my childhood: braised alum fish in a clay pot.

Braised fish in clay pot.

Every time the fish season comes, my grandmother often goes to the market very early to buy alum fish to braise in a clay pot. She chooses large, fresh alum fish, cleans them, drains them, and marinates them with spices (crushed green onion, salt, sugar, MSG, chili, coconut caramel, etc.) to taste. Let it marinate for about 5 minutes, then add good fish sauce to cover the fish. After that, she puts the clay pot on the stove with a low flame until the fish is cooked and the fish sauce is thick, then takes it off the stove. To give the fish sauce an attractive consistency and color - according to my grandmother - before the fish sauce dries up a bit, add a little boiling rice water. Finally, my grandmother adds pork rinds (or cooking oil), a little ground pepper, and a few ripe chili peppers and it's done!

After a tiring day at work, there is no greater joy than coming home to a meal of braised alum fish in a clay pot and a bowl of fragrant mixed vegetable soup. Pick up a piece of braised alum fish in a clay pot and a bowl of mixed vegetable soup and slowly chew. The fatty, sweet taste of the fish blends with the light sweetness and characteristic aroma of the vegetables spreading to the taste buds... Pour a spoonful of the soup into the bowl of rice and "swallow" it in one gulp, and you will feel all the "flavors of the countryside"!

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/du-lich/202508/ca-phen-kho-todan-da-ma-ngon-9ac0d42/