Back in the day, people used to slap fish with stuff like dandruff and barrels, which took a ton of effort and time. Now, it’s way easier—people just use pumps to drain the water, making it less work and way faster. While waiting for the water to dry up, guys, especially the younger ones, keep busy by clearing out grass, water spinach, and scrub (those dry trees used as fish shelters) to make catching fish easier. The mud’s packed with all kinds of fish—tilapia, perch, snakeheads, catfish, even octopus. Once the water’s almost gone, everyone teams up to catch them. Snakeheads are sneaky, though—they burrow deep into the mud, so you gotta get down and dirty, crawling through grass and caves to snag the big ones. After the slapping, the best snakeheads get grilled up as a treat for everyone who helped out. It’s messy, fun, and totally worth it.

I grew up in a tiny place where the rivers were always fresh and sparkling. It was a peaceful and simple life, but I loved it. I used to play with my friends by the water, swim in the summer, and watch the fish. Sometimes we would catch them and cook them over a fire. Those were some of the best memories of my childhood.

Among the delicious dishes from copper fish, there must be grilled snakehead fish. Snakehead fish grilled with sweet, fragrant aroma with the smell of coal fire, eaten with a bunch of copper vegetables, though simple but passionate about the taste of the countryside. Slapping a lot of fish, they also dried, and made fish sauce to eat gradually.