Among many delicious rustic foods made by my mother, I can never forget the soup of crucian carp and flagrant knotwed, especially in hot summer days.
I still remember the time when I lived with my family in the hometown, my mother did not go to the market everyday, since it was far away from our house. Yet, the main reason was that we could provide food ourselves just by going and looking around the garden or the bamboo hedge to get something for our meals. Only with some basella alba near the field or some eggs from the hen that we raised, or some anabas that we caught, we would have a good meal which was still tasty and nourish.
When the rainstorms were about to start, and the water was about to rise in the field, the fish would come along the waterways. Every time the season of freshwater fish came, people in my hometown would come in crowds to the field, prepared fishing tackle and creels, ready to catch the fish.
In those days, there was not chemical fertilizer in the field or insecticide and there were so many fishes to catch, most of them are anabas and crucian carp.
Crucian carp is a familiar kind of freshwater fish; their flocks usually live in ponds and lakes, ditches or in watered fields. According to the traditional experiences, crucian carp is cold and very good for health; it can even cure tuberculosis and diabetes.
Meanwhile, flagrant knotwed is warm, which can cure bellyache, bitten snake wound or swell leg… Crucian carp used with flagrant knotwed could help to reduce the heat in our body very effectively.
Making the soup of crucian carp and flagrant knotwed is quite easy. However, to make it delicious, we need to be careful and clever so that the meat of the crucian carp would be cooked softly but not be broken and the ovary is still untouched.
After catching fishes, put them into a basin of clean water, change the water continually to help the fish remove all viscous substance on their body. Then, smoothly remove their livers and bowels so that the soup would not have the bitter and fishy taste.
Embalm the fish with peppercorn, onion, monosodium glutamate and a little salt. Then, put them into boiling water, waiting until the fishes are cooked, then add flagrant knotwed, green chili and a little fish sauce. We can also add some tomatoes so that the soup looks more colorful and delicious but still keep the sweet taste of the fish.
My siblings and I have grown up by these plain meals with some fishes in the field and some vegetables in the garden. Nowadays, there are not so many fishes in my hometown’s fields, and the crucian carp is not always easy to find anymore. However, I cannot ever forget the special flavor of the soup of crucian carp and flagrant knotwed made by my mother, in spite of how simple and rustic it is. Every time coming back home, especially on the summer days, I always feel so eager to enjoy the dish and to find the feeling of my childhood again.
