It requires a lot of skill to make this specialty. Carps are raised for about 6 months until they grow to about three fingers in size, then they are caught for making the paste.

Phuc Son fermented carp paste.

Before harvesting the fish, cooks need to prepare all necessary ingredients in advance, such as glutinous rice and brewers’ yeast, and weave a basket for the fermentation process. Glutinous rice is steamed to make sticky rice and let cool before being mixed with brewers’ yeast. Next, people line the bottom of the basket with banana leaves and place the mixture into it. The basket is then covered tightly for four days until the sticky rice is well fermented. Now it is time to catch carps.

The fish are cleaned, and seasoned with galangal, sour fermented rice, indigenous magenta plant, and coriander. They are then mixed with the fermented sticky rice and brewed in jar, which is sealed for 8 to 10 months.

The fish must be “well-done” in both meat and bones. A well-executed paste is dark red-purple in colour, in which the fermented rice must not disintegrate, and particularly the fish must retain their shape without breaking up into unsightly mush.

The paste can be tasted directly, served as a dipping sauce for water morning glory, or cooked with meat. The slightly sour, nutty and sweet flavour of the carp paste can leave an unforgettable aftertaste for anyone who tries it.