Rustic dishes during the rainy season

Sesame salt and peanuts

Not fussy or needing many ingredients but can be stored for a long time, peanut sesame salt used to be a dish associated with many people's childhood during difficult rainy days. Just a handful of white rice or cold rice eaten with a little sesame salt, fragrant, salty, easy to eat, filling, convenient.

To make delicious sesame salt that can be stored for a long time without losing its oil smell, wash the peanuts first and then roast them evenly over low heat until they are thoroughly cooked. When roasting the sesame seeds, add a little water and roast them over low heat until they are evenly cooked and fragrant.

After roasting the peanuts until golden brown, pour them into clean paper, wrap them tightly, then wrap them in a cloth to absorb the "sweat" and leave them until cool, then rub the shell and pound them moderately. Do not pound them too hard or the oil will quickly leak out, making the sesame salt taste bad.

Since ancient times, mothers often used coarse salt (sea salt) to make sesame and peanut salt as well as pickle cucumbers and eggplants because it has a natural sweet aftertaste, not as bitter as refined salt.

Dried fish

For a long time, whenever they heard about a storm, mothers often stocked up on salty dried fish. For a quick meal on a rainy day, just fry the dried fish with a little oil, or grill it, it would still fill the kitchen with a fragrant aroma and be enough for the whole family.

To reduce the saltiness of dried fish, soak it in diluted salt water. This seems absurd, but from a chemical perspective, it is effective because of the salt neutralization rule. When soaking dried fish that is already salty in diluted salt water, the high salt concentration (hypertonic) moves to a less salty concentration environment (hypotonic). After soaking for 15 - 20 minutes, rinse it again, drain or pat dry, and then prepare dishes as desired.

Salted peanuts

Besides sesame salt, many families also stock up on salted roasted peanuts before the storm. Each peanut is coated with a tiny layer of white salt on the outside, crispy and fragrant, with a salty taste. This dish is served with pickled cucumber, boiled water spinach juice and white rice to complete the meal.

When roasting, keep the heat low and stir constantly so that the peanuts cook slowly and drain before eating to keep them crispy for a long time. Mix a little filtered water with salt or fish sauce (adjust the saltiness to taste) and pour into the peanut pan, stir constantly to form tiny white crystals that stick evenly to the peanuts. Take the peanuts out and wrap them in clean paper or cloth to absorb the "sweat" to keep them crispy for a long time. When the peanuts cool, put them in a glass jar for later use, quite convenient for quick meals on rainy days.

Braised fish

Each piece of fish is eye-catching, the meat is firm, when eaten, the slight sourness from the Chinese plums permeates every fiber of the fish, the pieces of Chinese plums are soft and chewy, absorbing the delicious sweetness of the fish and pork belly. This dish is quite delicious when eaten with white rice, especially on rainy days.

Currently, green and black plums are in season and appear quite a lot in Hanoi and the northern provinces. Housewives often buy and store them for use all year round to braise meat, braise fish, and make fish sauce or soy sauce, all of which are very delicious.

Both green plum and black plum stewed with fish are delicious and have their own flavors. Black plum has a rich flavor, green plum has a mild sour taste that goes well with fish. When adding water to stew the fish, it is necessary to add boiling water to avoid fishy smell.

Fish has a short, loose protein fiber structure that is easily broken. Therefore, the worst thing to do when braising fish is to turn it over too much, which will cause the fish to break apart while its fibers are stretching, making it less delicious and less aesthetically pleasing. Since ancient times, mothers have passed on the experience of braising fish 2-3 times over a fire to get a rich color, rich flavor, rich aroma and to keep it for a long time.

Beef and cucumber soup

Pickled cabbage soup with beef is quite delicious on a rainy day. Each piece of rib meat when stewed with pickles becomes soft and supple, with a light pink color without being dry. Pickled cabbage is soaked in a delicious sweet flavor, the soup is harmoniously sweet and sour, with an attractive reddish-brown color.

To cook melon soup, you should choose tenderloin or ribs with tendons. When simmered for a long time, they will be a bit chewy and crunchy without being dry or too greasy.

According to folk experience, the soup should be cooked over "two fires" to be more flavorful and tender. Saute garlic until fragrant, add marinated beef and stir-fry until cooked, add boiling water and a little pickled cucumber juice. Turn on the stove to boil, reduce heat and simmer until the beef is tender.

After simmering the beef for a while, stir-fry the pickled cabbage with half of the tomato wedges, season with a little sugar to reduce the sour taste. Then, pour the stir-fried cabbage into the pot and simmer until the cabbage is pickled and the beef is tender. At this point, pour in the remaining tomato wedges, simmer for a few more minutes so that the tomatoes hold their pieces to accentuate the soup. Season to taste, add green onions, sprinkle with a little pepper and scoop out to enjoy hot.

Braised meat with radish

During the subsidy period or on rainy days, mothers often braised meat with radish, tofu, bamboo shoots or kohlrabi, all of which were very delicious. Nowadays, depending on taste, you can choose pork belly or deboned pig's feet with tendons. A plate of braised meat is soft and delicious, the radish absorbs the delicious sweetness of the meat, and the braised water is shimmering. This dish is eaten with white rice and boiled vegetables, which is easy to stimulate the taste buds.

Braised meat should be braised twice to help it develop a beautiful amber color and a richer flavor. The radish should be de-pungent by drying it in the sun until it wilts slightly or by shaking it with a little salt to release the water and then washing it. The radish should be added near the end so that it can absorb the delicious sweetness of the meat. Do not add it too early or it will absorb the salty flavor.

Anchovies with peanuts and garlic

During storms and floods, people in many rural areas often make anchovies with peanuts and garlic to eat gradually every week or month. Crispy anchovies mixed with fatty peanuts, rich salty and sweet taste, a little spicy, with the aroma of lemon leaves, very tasty, nutritious and convenient.

Depending on your taste, you can use medium-sized dried anchovies or milk anchovies (soft rice). Dried milk anchovies cook quickly, so when frying, remember to stir quickly for a few minutes. When the air bubbles have subsided, stir the fish roughly. Do not fry for too long or the fish will burn and become bitter.

The secret to making the dish fragrant and not fishy is to fry the lemon leaves, garlic, and lemongrass (optional) in oil, then fry the fish in that oil. Heat the fish sauce and sugar mixture until it thickens slightly, then add the fish and peanuts and stir to combine the spices. When it cools, the fish and peanuts will be crispier without getting soggy. If you make a lot, let it cool and put it in a clean glass jar in a cool place or in the refrigerator for later use.

Fried rice

Simple, quick, nutritious and suitable for all ages is fried rice with eggs. A plate of golden rice with separate grains, soft and sticky, mixed with rich eggs, fragrant with green onions.

To make delicious fried rice, when cooking, the rice will be a bit dry. If there is any sticky rice left, put it in a box (without a lid) and leave it in the refrigerator overnight. The grains will be dry and easier to squeeze apart. Depending on your taste, mix the rice with eggs to create a golden brown color, or add the rice and stir-fry with the eggs. When frying the rice, gently rub the rice grains to separate them and fry over low heat. Do not fry over high heat as it will easily burn the eggs. Fried rice with lard and a cast iron pan creates an old-fashioned and more delicious flavor.