Eating with Mom August 2019: Bang Bo Pickled Fish Sauce Dish, Lying on the Raft Listening to Mom's Lullaby, Swaying, Flooded Skies, Floating Rabbit

Eating with Mom August 2019: Bang Bo Pickled Fish Sauce Dish, Lying on the Raft Listening to Mom's Lullaby, Swaying, Flooded Skies, Floating Rabbit

When it comes to memories that have stayed with me since childhood and still warm my heart whenever I think of them, it must be the image of my hometown.Bang Bo, Samut PrakanThe place where I, Mr.Hotsia, grew up along a small canal called Khlong Samrong, a canal that introduced me to the famous Bang Bo pickled fish and the simple, beautiful lifestyle of the riverside villagers that continues through every season.

This time I returned to Bang Bo in August 2019, during the rainy season. The fields around the house were flooded, with water levels rising so high that it looked like the sky was flooding, as the locals jokingly say. The flood seemed to bring the sky closer to the ground. Not only that, there were also fun events likeLotus Throwing Festivalan annual community event where villagers gather enthusiastically. I slept on a bamboo raft in the Ban Rakat canal, listening to my mother sing sweet lullabies accompanied by the sound of flowing water. It was true happiness for someone born and raised in this area like me.

One morning, my mother and I went to Bang Bo Market, a market that still retains the traditional floating market style, just like the one I used to see at150-Year-Old Bang Phli Marketnot far away. This is a canal-side market filled with the atmosphere of the past. Old wooden shops line both sides of the canal, with boats paddling back and forth. My mother took me to choose fresh Bang Bo pickled fish just caught from the fish ponds. I saw plump, chubby pickled fish, more so than elsewhere, deliciously famous nationwide and proudly exported abroad.

The Bang Bo pickled fish I saw today remains fresh and plump as when I was a child. One reason why Bang Bo pickled fish tastes uniquely delicious is the brackish water in the canal, which is an excellent food source for the fish, especially red plankton, their favorite food. This makes the fish meat thick and sweeter than pickled fish from other places. (Read more atBang Bo Pickled Fish)

After buying fresh pickled fish, I didn't miss trying the special Bang Bo pickled fish sauce my mother made. This authentic Bang Bo fish sauce is not just ordinary fish sauce; it has a perfect fragrant saltiness and smooth flavor, ideal with hot steamed rice and fresh vegetables grown around the house. My mother and I enjoyed it deliciously. The familiar childhood taste filled my heart.

The atmosphere at the riverside house was still filled with my mother's lullabies. I remember she would sing traditional Thai songs with gentle high and low tones, melodies swaying gently, flooded skies, floating rabbits. These songs carry meaning and a mother's love for her child. This music feels like therapy for the soul on tiring days, something irreplaceable.

In the evening, I took my mother on a small boat ride along Khlong Samrong, admiring the flooded rice fields. The small waves rocking the boat reflected the sunlight as it set below the horizon. It was a rare peaceful moment in today's world.

I still remember that as a child, villagers raised fish in 'Teen Na' or fish ponds dug in the lowest parts of the rice fields. Pickled fish would swim around us. We used to help drain the ponds full of snakehead fish and plump pickled fish, which were then made into fermented fish to keep for the whole year. This lifestyle is inseparable from water and fish. (Read more atBang Bo Pickled Fish)

For anyone wanting to experience this way of life, I recommend visiting during the rainy season. Besides seeing the flooded, lush green rice fields, you can also join local events and traditions up close, such as the Lotus Throwing Festival, and taste delicious local dishes worth sharing.

And if you like spicy holy basil stir-fry like me, follow my work atSpicy Holy Basil Restaurantwhich I created to share the true hometown flavors with everyone, so you can easily cook it yourself at home wherever you are.

All of this is the feeling and experience I, Mr.Hotsia, had in Bang Bo, Samut Prakan Province, which still fully preserves my hometown — its nature, lifestyle, and unforgettable flavors.