Every September of the lunar calendar, when the rice season has just ended, residents of the village of Canh Nau (Thach That, Hanoi) roam the fields to catch rats.
This dish is gradually becoming a “specialty” in the village, from children to the elderly, all the women are “addicted” to it.
According to the “masters” of the village, there are many ways to catch rats: trapping traps, digging burrows, pouring water into the cave, training dogs to chase rats, using snowshoes to catch. ..
Nowadays, Canh Nau villagers mainly use traps and flashlights to catch them in the evening, this method is more productive and saves time.
Mr. Do Huu Lai (Village 2, Canh Nau), one of the long-time field mouse “hunters”, shared: “The rat catching season usually lasts from September to December (lunar calendar) every year, which is the time of year in the lunar calendar and after the rice harvest season. At this time, rats eat a lot of rice, so they get fat, this is the same time that rats reproduce, so the. number of rats is high.”
In order to earn a high income, Mr. Lai had to travel to neighboring districts such as Phuc Tho, Hoai Duc, and even Vinh Phuc province to set traps: “During the rat season, every night I set traps to catch them. Every day, with a hundred traps, he obtains an average of 15kg.
Ms. Do Thi Ly (Mr. Lai’s wife) sells rats all year round at Canh Nau market. In the past, when few people ate them, they only sold rats they caught at home, now I buy more live rats from villagers to make meat and sell them in the market for profit. “
Mrs. Ly who sells rats “On the “most popular” day, I sell 60 kg of rats. In addition to selling live rats, many customers ask me to make cooked or seasoned dishes, and I also serve them.”
There are fewer rats this year, people explain that the reason is that more and more people will catch them and the area of agricultural land is shrinking.
Making rat meat is also a feat; after catching the rat, it is blanched in boiling water at 70 degrees Celsius, then the hair is cleaned, then left to dry. Light the fire, burn the back first, then turn it over and burn the belly until golden brown.
Processing rat dishes is a secret of each region. Unlike rats in Hai Duong, rats in Dinh Bang (Bac Ninh), in Canh Nau, field mice are processed into dishes such as: boiled, steamed with lemongrass, fried with lemongrass and chili. .., The most common dish is civet or rat in some localities.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoi, a small-scale trader who has been selling rats at Canh Nau market for nearly a decade, said: “Today, my house has few goods, only more than 20 kg, but customers have already ordered almost all of them, about 3 kg left, brought to the market in the afternoon, that’s it. There was a peak day when I sold 70 kg of dead rats.
Rat meat is often compared to dog and cat meat, but it is milder and more delicious.
For “drinkers”, rat meat stir-fried with lemongrass and chili pepper is priority number 1. After marinating lemongrass, chili pepper and spices, the meat is stir-fried in a pan of fragrant fried onion. The aroma of lemongrass and the spiciness of chili blend with the fatty taste of rat meat, when eaten while still hot, perhaps nothing can compare.
“Not to lie, rat meat is always the first dish in my family’s rice platter, everyone in my family is addicted to this dish,” said Thuy (village 4, Canh Nau) with a smile.
