A rare fish species as precious as ginseng, a gift from heaven only found in Hoang Lien Son: Caught by 'getting drunk'

They are native fish, very rare and are considered by locals to be "as precious as ginseng" .

Rare fish only found in Hoang Lien Son

Hoang Lien Son is a mountain range known as the "roof of Indochina" and is always a challenge for anyone who wants to conquer it. In that wild place, there are always hidden secrets that when discovered, anyone must be amazed and admire the wonderful creation of nature.

Hoang Lien Son is a mountain range about 180km long, starting from the Northwest to the Southeast, connecting the two provinces of Lao Cai and Lai Chau, and reaching to the West of Yen Bai. This is also home to many rare species of animals and plants, only found here. Bitter fish is a special fish species of this mountain range. According to Lao Dong newspaper, in the past, there were mountain streams flowing through vast fields of yellow lotus trees, so the stream water and moss also tasted bitter, and especially there was a type of fish that ate the moss and stream water, so its meat also tasted bitter. Since then, this fish species has been called bitter fish.

On the Hoang Lien Son mountain range, there is a very special fish species called bitter fish. (Photo: Binh Phuoc Newspaper).

According to the IUCN Red List 2012, the bitter fish is a genus of fish in the Balitoridae family of the Cypriniformes order , which is a genus of fish native to East Asia. This fish only lives in very high, very cold, even icy places. This species of fish is extremely rare, only found at altitudes above 2000m , with cold water all year round. It takes a lot of experience to know where the bitter fish hides. Usually, they hide in sections with shallow water and many underground caves, crevices, and strong water currents. Occasionally, fish are seen jumping out from the cliffs and then being caught.

According to An ninh Thu do, bitter fish, also known as ginseng fish, lives in Sang Ma Pho stream , Sin Sui Ho commune, Phong Tho district, Lai Chau province. In addition, people also found them in two other streams, Hoang Chu Van and Chang Phang. They are native fish, very rare and are compared by local people to be "as precious as gold" and "as precious as ginseng".

Sang Ma Pho stream, where bitter fish live. (Photo: An ninh Thu do Newspaper).

Bitter fish are as small as a finger or a little bigger. The back of the fish is shiny black, the belly is white, the fins are interspersed with red stripes, quite similar to goby fish.

VTC News described the bitter fish as clinging to rocks to eat moss in strong, cold streams, so they are called rock-clinging fish . When the water is low and the flow is gentle, the rock-clinging fish crawl out of the rock holes and get stuck in the net, but no bitter fish, also known as "sam fish", can be seen. The bitter fish is cunning and never crawls out of the rock holes. Its whole life it just crawls in the dark rock holes, never sticking its head out.

Bitter fish is a native fish, very rare and is considered by locals to be "as precious as gold" and "as precious as ginseng". (Photo: An ninh Thu do Newspaper)

For the locals, bitter fish is one of the specialties with an unforgettable taste. Bitter fish has the shape of a miniature fried fish. The fish are as big as a finger, with a red and black body and a white belly. When catching, use a knife to cut the belly, scoop out the fish's intestines attached to the rock, clamp it on a bamboo stick to grill, but for bitter fish, there is no need to remove the intestines, just clamp the fish or skewer it on a sharp bamboo stick to grill. Bitter fish meat has a strange taste, a fish, as big as a small finger, like a grouper.

When eating, the bitter taste of the fish quickly melts in the mouth, just a few seconds later, the sweet taste lingers on the tip of the tongue, spreading down the throat, the taste of precious ginseng, not of fish. Biting into the fish, you can feel the refreshing bitter taste of the meat, but then the sweetness quickly melts into the saliva, lingering in the throat. The local people here believe that only lucky people can enjoy this unique fish dish in the Northwest.

The fish can only be caught by "getting drunk"

During the journey to hunt for bitter fish in Hoang Lien Son, An ninh Thu do newspaper quoted local people as saying : "You need a lot of experience to know where bitter fish hide. Usually they hide in areas with water bodies and many underground caves, crevices in rocks, and strong water currents."

To catch the bitter fish, they had to divide into two groups to act, in which "one group dug up small stones to clear the flow. The remaining group rolled the stones to form a bank on the other half. When the stone bank rose above the stream surface, a tarp was spread down to form a bank to block the fierce water. The water was blocked, flowing to the other side. Therefore, the remaining half of the stream gradually dried up and revealed puddles".

Bitter fish are very cunning and difficult to catch. (Photo: Lao Dong Newspaper).

Then, the people will use stones as pestles to crush the pieces of red bark that are dyed like blood and secrete resin . They pour the bark powder into the water, the water stained with resin quickly spreads throughout the babbling stream of the downstream. This resin is easy to find, easy to make, not highly toxic so it is not destructive, and does not affect the health of people who eat the fish. When the water becomes clear again, the fish will regain consciousness. Just a moment later, the bitter fish are "drunk" and drift out of the cave, floating on the water surface. Just like that, people can easily catch the bitter fish.

In addition to being used as a dish, this fish is also considered a "heavenly gift", ginseng and is considered a great tonic. The reason is because the bitter fish in Hoang Lien Son eat the coptis (a precious medicine) of this mountain range, so their meat has a bitter taste and is extremely good for health.

In Oriental medicine, bitter fish is neutral, non-toxic, has the effect of replenishing blood and qi, strengthening yang, clearing heat, quenching thirst, and treating internal heat.

To catch this fish, people need to use a type of tree resin that is red like blood. (Photo: VTC News)

In modern medicine, bitter fish provides many vitamins that help eliminate toxins in the blood, increase vitality, and improve health. In addition, this fish also provides a lot of calcium to help strengthen bones.

According to the An ninh Thu do newspaper, the number of this fish species is currently decreasing seriously due to over-hunting and changes in the flow of the stream where they live.

Hopefully in the future, local people will be aware of preserving the Hoang Lien Son bitter fish so that they do not fall to the brink of extinction like other species.