Giant fish sell like hot cakes in Ho Chi Minh City restaurants

Because it is highly sought-after and sold at expensive prices, most Siamese giant carp (‘cá hô’ in Vietnamese), whose the scientific name is Catlocarpio siamensis, caught in the wild are coming to big cities like Ho Chi Minh City.

Ly Nhat Hieu, the owner of HD restaurant in District 4, said his guests have to place an order sometimes years in advance so that they can enjoy the precious meat of a big fish.

Hunting for big fish

Hieu recalled he was notified that a fisherman in Mang Thit District of the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long had caught a giant Siamese carp, and he immediately set off for the destination.

Three hours later, the owner clinched a deal with the fisherman to take home the 127kg fish for VND162.6 million ($7,800), or VND1.28 million ($61.5) per kilogram.

This was at midnight on December 7.

Hieu explained that, “This kind of fish at that weight level is invaluable because you may not be able to buy it even when you have money.

“We can only buy this once every few months or years. Clients placed an order before so I have to get it immediately.”

The fish was frozen and taken to his restaurant while dozens of clients sat waiting.

Seven or eight restaurant staffers slaughtered the fish with an electric saw because the scales and bones were so tough.

The most expensive and popular parts of the fish include the cartilage round its lips, as well as the bladder, stomach and breast, which are sold for around VND4 million ($192) a kilogram.

The meat is often prepared for processing with vinegar. The fiber in the muscles is firm, bright red and alternates with layers of yellow fat.

“I heard that a giant carp kept in a pond can weigh up to nearly 10kg after many years. In the wild, a 100kg fish must live long and collect good nutrition,” said a guest at the restaurant.

Several guests have flown from Hanoi to the restaurant to enjoy the meat of the fish and take home a few kilograms as gifts for family and friends.

Previously the restaurant had a ‘cá tra dầu’, a giant catfish that weighed 230kg, but it was sold within two weeks. The giant catfish, Pangasianodon gigas, is a very big and critically endangered species, native to the Mekong basin in Southeast Asia and adjacent China.

Once, Hieu was hesitant to buy a ‘cá hô’ since it was too expensive, but his guests chipped in with thirty or forty million Vietnamese dong ($1,442-1,900) each to bring the fish home.

Another restaurant, LS in District 9, bought a 128kg ‘cá hô’ which sold after a week, but dozens of clients asked and ordered the fish meat later, said the restaurant manager, Nguyen Quoc Thai.

Fish as big as 20-30kg each are not rare here, he added.

To have fish of 100kg or more, restaurant owners have to set up their own networks at ports, even in Cambodia which has a giant lake – Tonle Sap – with different species of big fish.

Many ‘cá tra dầu’ weighing over 100kg have been bought from Tonle Sap and taken to Vietnam, said Nguyen Thi The Thu, the owner of aquatic product shop Bay Thu in Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City.

A violation

Big fish like ‘cá hô’ and ‘cá tra dầu’ are banned from being caught because they are listed as endangered species, according to Tran Dinh Vinh – head of the department for the protection of aquatic products in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development even has an ordinance prohibiting the export of these species of fish.

In reality, ‘cá hô’ is banned from being fished because it is so much rarer in nature, but it is now well bred in ponds and ‘cá hô’ of 10kg each are ready for commercial purposes.

Fishing them should be seen as normal in that case, but the ban is now in place so it is still a violation if someone catches the fish, Vinh said.