During the rainy season, rivers in central Viet Nam teem with many kinds of fish, including several varieties of goby (cá bống), a spiny, large-jawed tropical fish. Some varieties of goby are as small as a soybean or as large as a baby's wrist. Residents steam the small goby to serve with sesame cakes.
They cook the larger sand-coloured goby (cá bống thệ), which has a plump body and soft scales, in fish sauce and pepper. These fish are especially good for the health of women with young babies. Goby livers, which are very nutritious, are a delicacy that is hard to find in markets.
Local residents catch gobies by carving holes in bamboo poles, which they tie up in a river. At night, the gobies, which live along the river bottom, swim through the holes into the bamboo, where the fishermen find them in the morning.
Most Hue people enjoy eating rice or green-bean-and-rice porridge with gobies steamed in fish sauce. They choose fish of equal size and chop them into two. Then they layer the fish with rau răm (knotweed leaves) and thinly-sliced pork belly, spice the mixture with fish sauce, sugar, and chillies, and simmer the fish over a low flame. Once the fish is cooked, they add some pepper and serve.
Steamed sandy-coloured goby is one of the favourite dishes of rural people around Hue. Today, it is also available in restaurants and hotels.