Tran Van Khe, 42, Trung's brother, said that this was the only day of the year that the whole family stayed up at night to grill the fish.
"It’s important to turn the fish constantly to avoid burning and cook evenly. Normally, when fish is grilled, its insides are taken out, but, since this is God of Wealth Day, it is kept intact to worship," Khe said.
The fresh snakehead fish is bought from the Binh Dien wholesale market. Each takes about 30 minutes to grill.
Grilled fish are neatly arranged as Nguyen Thuong, 80, Trung's father, puts rice noodles and some vegetables into small bags.
"Raw vegetables go well with the grilled fish. I have spent several nights in succession, making the dipping sauce and packing the vegetables. Just this one day, a ton of vegetables is consumed,” said Nga, Trung’s sister.
After customers choose their fish, they are sprinkled with fried scallion and roasted peanuts before being wrapped in foil.
Nguyen Thi No from Tan Phu District has bought two fish for VND170,000 each at Trung's stall.
"Every year, my family comes here to buy grilled fish to worship the God of Wealth, hoping for luck, fortune and prosperity throughout the year," No said.
In the south of Vietnam, the tray of offerings to the God of Wealth should have gold, fruit, roasted pork and grilled snakehead fish.
