The sardines look like the herrings that are silver white, having tiny scales and shining skins. The sardines have many bones but the bones and the flesh are soft and eatable...

The sardines flock to the Red River from January to April on the Lunar year, the peak season is in the red silk cotton blossoms season of March. In this period, fishing villages by Red River net the sardines. Vu Dien port (Hoang Hanh commune, Hung Yen province) is considered the biggest source for sardines. Here is the deep water area and at the crossroads of Red River, Luoc River and Nam Dinh River containing enormous sardines. There is a strange legend around Sardines story amid North resident. The story is that sardines are due to tile birds. In fall, the birds fly to the ocean to transform to sardines. In the flowing spring, the sardines swim back to the forest to become the tile birds. This legend explains why the sardines swim from the ocean to the river to spawn and why the fish have the gizzards like the tile bird’s.

There is another exclusive legend of Hung Yen province. The story is that sardines flock to the outfall of renowned Pho Hien in the season of Chu Dong Tu – Tien Dung festival. Sardines swim back to offer themselves to “fishing ancestor” – Chu Dong Tu. On the festival occasion each year, the local fishermen catch the finest sardines, present the fish to ancestors, and then sell them or take them for food. These legends originated from communes of Khoai Chau, Van Giang, and has been specially respected in Chu Xa commune, Van Duc commune (now in Gia Lam, Ha Noi) – hometown of Chu Dong Tu. Chu Xa is the river port, and the boy (Chu Dong Tu) followed his father for fishing since his childhood. Thus, he was considered the fishing ancestor. In addition to the fresh fish, Chu Xa villages offer a sardine sauce to ancestors in the festival to “consol Mrs. Huu (Tay Sa) who was the farmer catching shrimps or fish”

Sardines have a special biology clock, like salmons in the Western areas. They are spawned in the river but swim to the ocean to live, and only come back in the breeding season in spring. As the rule for survival, they have to pass the water flow to the place they were born before for spawning in spring. This is the season that the fishermen can catch this wonderful gift from nature. In Tan Chau commune, only Hong Chau village still do the fishing with dozens of boats; at 1-2 PM, villagers often row the boats along the flow to net fish. In every afternoon, images of the boats flowing back and forth on the river and green corn fields at dawn are stunning. And the grandmothers, sisters, wives take the baskets to the river port to get fish to their kiosks for sale (“Market kiosk is called by the local villagers). Tourists can go to the port to buy fresh fish directly from the fishermen at a cheap price and sightsee the Red River at the same time

In order to have an unforgettable dish, the processing is complicated. Unlike other fish, the sardines are not slaughtered the horizontal abdominal. After cleaning the scales, just cut a slice under the gills to take out the gut, and cut some lines along the fish bones. The fish is not big but it should be careful to keep the bile and eggs intact. So the ancient people often watch a girl making the fish to see if she is careful or not. After washing, sardines are marinated with salt, ginger, ground turmeric and sliced cucumber to remove any odor

There are many ways to process sardines: fried, grilled or fried minced sardines. However, there is a picky way to make the delicious dish. After marinating fish for half an hour, skewer it with a fresh bamboo stick and then roast it on the charcoal stoves. As long as the fish pervades the fragrance, remove the stick and place the fish to subside in the hot oil pan. It must be used the lard for frying instead of vegetable oil. As long as the fish turn golden brown, pick it up immediately. The fragrance of ginger, chili, fish oil and special scent of fish eggs makes the simple dish stunning. The fried fish must be eaten hot with herbs and dipped into the balanced fish sauce with lime and chilly. Some prefer dipping the fish into the soy sauce with some minced garlic.

Sardines have many small bones. Hanoians adore this dish because there is only one season in spring. The fish taste strange, very fresh, unlike the frozen fish carried from the ocean. Sardines contains high content of protein which is good for people’s health, many tourists buy in large quantity and store in the freezer to eat all year round. Sardines are very special as they will die as taken away from water. They cannot survive as long as other fish, so every fisherman always keep one ice pot on his boat for preservation. However, as buying sardines, tourists should see whether or not the fish eyes are clear, the fish body is firm. The fish is much in demand, hardly on the shelf

In each season, boats can catch 60-70kgs of fish in the beginning tide (every 12 days). The wholesale price is from 20,000 to 30,000 VND/ kg. The retail price is 70,000 VND/ kg. Not everyone is lucky to get an abundant net of fish. However, a typical boat can earn from 500,000 to 600,000 VND/ kg. Some fishermen make 20 mil VND/ month. The sardines are the specialty dish so the price is little higher than other fish’s. The fishermen said: “Recognizing the sardines is simple, because it is white and small like the crucian carps but fishier than other fish.

The sardine is one of the nutritious dishes because it contains a huge content of omega-3 that circulates the cholesterol content in the blood and improves the health of blood. Sardines are good for brain. Sardines are not affected by insecticides or chemicals. Due to small dimensions and short longevity, they absorb tiny amount of these polluted substances

In the cozy family meals in the fairly cold weather, enjoying the aromatic crispy fried sardines, we can feel the sweetness of fish, ginger, sweetness of Red River water, especially love of family reunion. Thus, sardines are not only favored by many people but also the typical cuisine of the homeland.