A woman sells grilled herring at the Cửa Tùng Commune in Quảng Trị Province. VNA/VNS Photos

Thanh Thủy

QUẢNG TRỊ — Trương Thị Lài covers her head and face with a large scarf while consecutively turning fish skewers upside down.

She is preparing grilled herring to serve visitors, who are expected to flood her place in just a few minutes.

"In summer, our area welcomes many tourists who really love grilled herring, a specialty of Quảng Trị Province this time of year," says Lài, a 55-year-old resident of Cang Gián Village in Bến Hải.

Lài is among hundreds of local women who have sold grilled fish for decades. Their mobile food stalls along the coastal roads of Cửa Việt, Bến Hải and Cửa Tùng communes have become a familiar sight for locals and tourists visiting the province.

Fishermen go out to sea early in the morning and come back with boats full of herring and other types of fish.

"Every day, my family wakes up early and goes fishing. During the high season, they can catch more than 100kg of herring per day," says Lài.

"We then take them home for initial preparation and processing. In the summer, consumption increases sharply, and selling grilled herrings is a significant additional source of income for my family."

"The herring season is from the second to the eighth month of the lunar calendar. But the summer months are when we host large numbers of visitors, leading to a huge volume of herring sold," she notes.

"After fishing, I select the freshest, most intact and fattest herring for my business, while damaged fish are sold to anglers as bait. I clean them well and grill them until they turn golden, which they are ready to serve tourists."

Herring is a very nutritious fish with a delicious flavour. Lài sells fresh herring for VNĐ30,000 per kilogramme, while grilled fish costs VNĐ60,000 if customers eat them on-site and VNĐ50,000 for take away.

Grilled herring is a tasty treat for residents and visitors.

She also prepares dipping sauce for her customers, which can be different depending on people's demands. Some only want fish sauce with pepper or chilli; others want salt and pepper with a little lime juice; and many others love soy sauce.

Another resident of Lài's village, Trương Thị Đào has also sold grilled herring for several decades.

"Every summer, I start my cooking early in the morning to be ready to serve tourists passing along this road. Grilling fish doesn't require overly complicated techniques, but the cook must have experience to adjust the fire appropriately, ensuring the fish cooks evenly, retaining its natural sweetness and distinctive aroma," she says.

"Herring must be fresh to be delicious when grilled. We must also constantly flip the fish; if the fire is too high, the fish will burn easily, but if the fire is too low, the fish won't get a crispy texture. When cooked perfectly, the fish turns golden brown, emitting a distinctive aroma, and the flesh is tender, sweet and fatty but not greasy."

A woman prepares fish for customers to either eat on-site or take away.

Đào says she is happy watching customers enjoy her dishes and bring products home for relatives or introduce her shop to their friends. 

"They find the fish delicious and come back to buy more or recommend it to others. That's our joy and motivation to continue doing this job," she says.

"We hope that in the future, local tourism will develop further so that people like us can have more stable earnings."

Under the scorching sun and the hot, dry winds from Laos, charcoal stoves blaze with smoke and the fragrant aroma of grilled herring forces Bùi Huy Quyền, a tourist from Quảng Ninh Province, to stop and order a big dish for his family.

"Although I'm also from a coastal area, the grilled herring of Quảng Triị is incredibly delicious and rich in flavour," he says.

The delicious aroma of grilled herring draws in many tourists travelling through Cửa Tùng.

"We were so captivated by the aroma that we had to stop and try it. The herring is tasty and sweet with the dipping sauce. More than just a simple, rustic dish, it is, I think, a distinctive feature of Quảng Trị. It is a truly delightful experience for me when travelling here."

Lài says grilling is only one of many ways to cook herring. 

Herring salad is also very popular. Although the fish is mixed raw with ingredients like onions and lime, it offers an unforgettable flavour.

Braised herring with pork belly is another great choice when people want to add more variety to their family's menu. The finished braised herring has a very eye-catching colour from the coconut milk sauce, followed by the delicious combination of fish and pork belly. A pot of braised herring with a bowl of white rice is simply divine.

Herring requires a proper grilling technique to make sure it has the best flavour.

The herring is braised until tender and soaked in a thick, sweet tomato sauce that subtly reveals its characteristic tangy flavour. It goes well with a bowl of white rice, and is a dish that people can eat day by day without getting bored. — VNS