Issan style Fishing And Bar B Q

Had yet another great weekend at Ban Muang. We were having our usual relaxing time when asked if we wanted to go fishing. Sure!
Off we went to Therm and Phu’s farm. They have several rice paddy’s and have over the years built themselves a small shelter. They use if while working on their fields and also as a place to go on Saturday afternoons. We joined them and spent the afternoon fishing and then eating our catch. This Blog posting is definitely not going to be one of my planned cooking videos. That’s still a few weeks off. This one is really to give you insight and another dimension to life in an Issan village.
Basically most people up there have small plots to grow rice etc. Often quite a way from the main house. So nearly all then build a shelter of some sort. Therms is not elaborate but is sufficient for their needs. It comprises a roofers area and a raised area where they can sleep and relax. Add in the main shelter where they can park their bike and leave some space for cooking etc. There is even a sort of kitchen. Water comes from catching and storing the rain. No electricity so they have some home made ‘lanterns’ made from bottles containing paraffin oil and a wick. Organized and simplicity at its best. Very relaxing indeed.
Enough of the descriptions. We needed to do some fishing. Well the pond measured about 20 by 40 meters. About half the size of our one. (Look at last posting). According to Therm it is full of fish. We’ll see. Sure enough we, that’s me and the boys, set to it. Catching 9 fish ion an hour. The fact that is was a constant heavy rain did not seem to make any difference.
These fish were kept in a small holding tank till we were ready to cook them. Bar B Q was prepared. Again a simple thing. Concrete stove and add some wood or charcoal. (No beer so I had to do a quick run to the shops and stock up). Also got come coke and crisps for the boys and some additional charcoal. All set.
Preparing the fish takes on a different meaning n up here. No gutting, no cleaning… The skin is salted and the mouth and gills are stuffed with fresh lemon grass leaves. Gives a really good flavour to the meat.
Just like that they go on the Bar B Q. What next. Wait till their cooked that’s what…
Once ready all you do is peal off the skin and eat the meat. Delicious. The skin has dried with the salt and acted as a moisture barrier to the meat which has remained soft and sweet. You can taste the lemon grass coming through as well. Well you just keep on picking and picking. Luckily we had the 9 fish. Soon gone.

I took a few pictures and also the usual video to try and capture the afternoon. Possibly tried to cram too much into the Video. Hope you enjoy this with us. And your comments please....#$%