Rice Paddy Cat Fish BBQ

The winters in Thailand are dry and cool and to grow an extra rice crop the farmers need to find a source of water to start the second crop. Some Thai families make this a fun event by draining a farm pond that may be on their property and having a BBQ.

The draining of the pond turns into a day-long event starting with a picnic lunch, as they watch the water level descend. When the water level is as low as the pumps will allow the entire family jumps into the pond to catch the fish. The catching is mostly by hand but my involve a net on two. The draining I was able to experience the family was able to catch mostly cat fish, a few big frogs and some smaller fish.

The cat fish are cooked on an open fire, throwing the fish into the hot coals. The fish are then eaten with a spicy dipping sauce.

There was also an interesting dish prepared by chopping up cat fish and marinated in freshly caught red ants all crushed by hand. This was allowed to sit then added lime, fish sauce, sugar and ground baked rice (larb)h.