A Central Vietnamese Family Meal — Why There Is Always a Jar of Mam

Open the fridge in a central Vietnamese household and you will find several jars of fermented fish and pickles lined up. That is not hoarding. It is how meals here are organised.

The logic of the table

A family meal usually has four parts:

1. Steamed rice — the base
2. Soup — jute leaf, water spinach, sour soup, crab soup
3. A savoury dish — braised fish, braised pork, fried egg
4. A fermented or pickled dish — the part that makes people here eat a lot of rice

The fourth is the distinctive one. In many other regions a fermented dish appears occasionally. In central Vietnam it is on the table almost every meal — because the soil is poor, the rainy season is long, and fermenting is how food was kept.

Three jars worth keeping in the kitchen

A jar of fermented fish. Whole fermented anchovy is the most common choice — eaten straight with hot rice, a few slices of chilli and garlic and the meal is done. Anyone who prefers firmer flesh goes for fermented ribbonfish.

A jar of pickles. Fermented green mustard has a crisp bite; pickled aubergine with shrimp paste is deeply savoury. This is the palate cleanser — when the table is rich, one piece of pickle resets the mouth.

A jar for cooking with. Shrimp paste, for braising pork, making soup, or stir-frying water spinach.

How to balance one meal

The rule is simple: never put two strong dishes side by side.

• If the savoury dish is a heavily braised fish, the fermented dish should be pickles — the sour crunch balances it.
• If the savoury dish is mild, like fried egg or boiled pork, a strong fermented fish suits.
• The soup should always be light: jute leaf, Malabar spinach, gourd, squash. If the soup is strong too, the whole table becomes heavy.

Fermented fish and hot rice

There is one thing people here cannot explain but all know: fermented fish has to be eaten with hot rice. With cold rice the pleasure disappears entirely. The heat of the rice lifts the aroma and softens the salt.

So if you are just starting with these flavours, begin with a bowl of freshly served rice, a small spoonful of the fermented fish, and a few slices of chilli. Do not begin with cold rice.