Home » Mekong Eco Travel Guide » Chau Doc macerated fish (Mam Chau Doc)- MEKONG ECO TOUR

Chau Doc macerated fish (Mam Chau Doc)- MEKONG ECO TOUR

For a long time, people have the sentence “Chau Doc macerated fish, Nam Vang slope.” Located between Tien and Hau Rivers, An Giang region is blessed by the nature with an abundant fishery source following the flood.

For a long time, residents here knew how to make use of the natural fish and process it into macerated fish, store it all year-round. On a trip to the South, poet Tan Da had a compliment as follow: “Long Xuyen with a bowl of macerated fish, Nghe An with a bowl of egg-plant”. Not only like a popular food, Mam has become a unique cultural feature of An Giang land, occupying the passion from too many visitors.

It is difficult to count all types of Mam of the South from snakehead fish, snakeskin gourami,  henicorhynchus to mackerel, mystus,… Only at Chau Doc region, there are more than 20 kinds of macerated fish. In particular, Mam Thai (also known as Mam ruot – made from the meat of fish) is carefully processed by the people. Main ingredients are snakehead and papaya. After initial processing, fish is washed clearly and brined in the jug about fifteen days. Then picking up the fish, removing the head, the skin and bones, only taking the meat then cutting it into small pieces and marinating with seasoning. Specially papaya is well-kneaded cut into fibers, squeezing it into drain of latex, bringing it to dry for a day. Waiting for the papaya to be soft, put it into the jug with the fish, steady spreading the brown rice (roasted and well-kneaded ground) and then tightly covering the jug for 1 week then using it.

Nothing is as interesting as visiting Sam Mount (Chau Doc) in the festival season in lunar April, admiring the majestic landscapes of mountains and rivers, vast rice fields, enjoying the dish of Mam Thai, greasy and sweet-smelling cuts of pork side, the sweet shrimp smell, That Son vegetables and… sipping some glasses of rice wine.