Vietnamese Steamed Meatloaf (Mắm Chưng) – Cloud of Cookmorphosis

Happy Monday everybody!

Do you have a good Monday so far? As for me, I almost had a terrific Monday if only I could delete those horrified images I saw last night out of my head.

I have a tendency to check my Facebook feed for the last time before I sleep (who doesn’t, right?). So here was the story. Last night, as I scrolled down my feed, my eyes accidentally were caught on those scary, frighten, creepy, and terrified photos. I did not intent to see them whatsoever, however, they were so big that I could not avoid at all. I should’ve used my phone instead of laptop for midnight Facebook browsing, note to myself.

I wish I could tell you guys what I saw but I’m afraid it might offense some people because it’s a very sensitive topic. And the fact that I could not 100 percent share this horrified moment with anybody, it haunts me even more. I could not sleep last night, could not close my eyes nor could not open my eyes. If I closed my eyes, I would see those photos flying in my head and whispering into my ears “you’re next, you’re next”. But if I opened my eyes, I would continuously check on my body to make sure non of those things got on my stomach.

It was that scary, believe me.

There is an old saying says that: “What has been seen, can not be unseen”. And it’s definitely true. I want to do anything to delete or rewind that moment out of my life forever. But the truth is I can not. I have a feeling they will be stuck in my head for a very long time.

They did scare the bah-jeeez-sus out of me.

In my opinion, Facebook users should only post food, cats, dogs, squirrels, any kind of animal, insects, baby (with clothes) and more cats pictures on their account. Anything especially with too much skin exposed or too much dramatic graphic should be eliminated. Even it’s for good course or some kind of down-to-earth campaigns. If you really have to, then post a sign, a huge warning sign to let people know what they are getting into voluntarily.

My life is completely ruined up until this moment. I hope you’re happy. You, the person who posted those can-not-be-unseen pictures.

Well I’m better back to today’s recipe before I start to ruin the rest of your Monday. So as I planned to make this mouthwatering Bun Mam for my weekend’s feast, I ended up with a lot of left over fermented gouramy fish. Yes, my eyes were bigger than my stomach when I went for grocery shopping. Luckily I found a solution for them, this Vietnamese Steamed Meatloaf (Mắm Chưng) is a perfect match for the left over. This Mắm Chưng is a popular dish in Vietnam. It’s the best when eat with assorted Asian herb (mint, basil, and shiso), fresh cucumber, tomatoes and last but not least, a hot bowl of steamed rice.

If you’re not a fan of fermented fish, don’t worry, you can always substitute it for crab meat. With this version of meatloaf, it is usually served as a side of broken rice, grilled pork chop and pickled carrot with a compliment of a delicious fish sauce.

If you haven’t noticed, there is no other cuisine in the world love fermented fish as much as Vietnames cuisine. We love these stinky ingredients so much that we must add at least a tablespoon of fish sauce to whatever we cook on day-to-day basis. If it is the first time you cook with fermented fish, it’s quite hard for you to bare with its unique texture and smell. However, as soon as you pass this barrier, I promise you will fall in love with this dish before you even recognize it.

T.U