(HPĐT)- Spotted butterfish live in many different seas, but especially well grow at Hai Phong sea area. Spotted butterfish grilled with galangal and fermented rice is one of the typical dishes of Hai Phong people, which is simply processed to keep the rustic, sweet and characteristic original of fish.
According to ancient folklore, spotted butterfish is a valuable medicine to cure body weakness, nervous breakdown. Therefore, spotted butterfish grilled with galangal and fermented rice and the bile of spotted butterfish are considered to reduce fatigue and stress. To make the dish, it is recommended to choose big and thickfishes, weighing from 2.5 to 3 ounces or more for more delicious meat. It is quite difficult to cook spotted butterfish because they are very strong, even though disemboweled with gill hooked. Their fins are also very sharp, so be careful not to cut your hands. Especially when preliminarily processing, the stage of separating fish bile is very important and difficult, because if the bile breaks, it will make the fish meat bitter. In addition, fish bile is a good medicine when soaked with alcohol and lemongrass.
After being cleaned, the fish is lightly slit, marinated with galangal, fermented rice and a little salt. It is recommended to marinate fish for 30 minutes to absorb flavors. Fish is skewered or put on a griddle, and grilled evenly on a charcoal stove. Grill with medium heat; regularly flip the fish until it turns yellow.
When serving the dish, the fish skin is separated to reveal the white, fragrant fish meat. Spotted butterfish grilled with galangal and fermented rice is served with salted figs or mango. The natural sweetness of fish, the rich taste of spices combining galangal, fermented rice, and the acrid taste of salted figs, the light sour taste of salted mango will create a unique flavor. In addition, diners are served with soy sauce, cucumber, pineapple, star fruit and colza leaves to enjoy full flavors of this dish. Spotted butterfish grilled with galangal and fermented rice are sold at restaurants and food stalls in Hai Phong, Do Son and Cat Ba tourist areas (Cat Hai District) with prices from 600,000 to 800,000 VND/kg, depending on the of fish size./.
MOC NHI