At the river mouth with rich villages: Dien Kim, Dien Ngoc, Dien Thanh… generations of ancestors have relied on the sea to have a house and money for their children to study. Dien Chau sea is rich in seafood with famous fish and shrimp resources, which have created a premium fish sauce product called Van Phan for hundreds of years.
Van Phan fish sauce has long been known for its delicious flavor by the people of Nghe An. In the book Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi compiled by the National History Institute of the Nguyen Dynasty, it was clearly stated: “The most delicious fish sauce is Van Phan fish sauce. In particular, the crossbow fish sauce (cot nhi fish sauce) was once the “royal fish sauce”.
The book of the late Associate Professor Ninh Viet Giao has a passage about Van Phan fish sauce: “In the rice tray there is Van Phan fish sauce, the aroma is so fragrant that it hurts the nose. Pick up a piece of pork belly and dip it in, the meat will curl up, dip it in sticky rice and eat it, you will want to eat it forever. Giving someone a bottle of Van Phan fish sauce, on Tet holiday, they value it more than a few mackerel or a few kilos of pork…”. During this time, we (PV) went to Lach Van wharf, Dien Chau; the fishing wharf is always bustling with boats, next to Lach Van fish sauce production facility. From the outside, we could feel the irresistible flavor of the typical fish sauce. The manager took us to see the large wooden barrels of fish sauce in the factory. The wooden barrels are made from cassava, boi loi, nearly 2m high, each barrel can hold from 7,000 - 12,000kg of fish. There are more than 50 barrels lying still, receiving the gentle rays of sunlight from the roof…
Here, batches of fresh, shiny green anchovies are stripped of impurities, including other types of fish, crabs, and crabs, then mixed with a ratio of 70% fish, 30% salt, mixed well, and left to ferment for 9 to 12 months, then let workers take care of them, stirring them once a day. The fish sauce from the wooden barrels is screwed out at the bottom and then pumped back up to squeeze the fish protein from above; then left to settle and extract the fish sauce, the highest quality fish sauce.
After being extracted, the fish sauce is filtered twice using American filtration technology, then bottled and barreled. The natural temperature process in the house makes the fish sauce mature, squeezing out a golden, shimmering stream of water that flows like amber. The delicious, smooth taste of Van Phan fish sauce is said to come from the anchovy line that must be very fresh to provide the highest nutrition.
Fish sauce is produced from long-standing wooden barrels, ensuring food hygiene and safety better than cement barrels. In addition to the family secret recipe, Van Phan fish sauce uses the world's leading technology in filtering, decanting, ensuring food hygiene, and testing strict standards, which has helped this fish sauce surpass many other competitors to reach the demanding market of Japan.
It is known that fish sauce made in wooden barrels retains its original flavor because when enzymes develop and adhere to the inner surface of the wooden barrels, the hydrolysis process of fish viscera takes place more smoothly, thereby producing more delicious fish sauce.
After 10 years of research and cooperation with the most premium food corporation in Japan, Van Phan fish sauce is the first and only traditional fish sauce product line on the market that ensures Histamine content at a level below 400 ppm (mg/l) - meeting the standards set by Codex (International Food Standards Commission) on the Histamine content allowed in fish sauce.
Histamine is a substance that can cause allergies and itching in people with weak resistance. The human body accepts a certain amount of Histamine without causing any reaction because Histamine is broken down by enzymes. Therefore, it is necessary to strictly control the amount of Histamine added to food. Van Phan fish sauce is not only clean but also safe, it is a "real quality" fish sauce, providing both nutrition and safety for consumers' health. The color of the fish sauce is amber, fragrant, rich in flavor, satisfying even the most demanding consumers.
The fact that Van Phan fish sauce, an OCOP product of Dien Chau (Nghe An), is exported to the world's most demanding market, Japan, about 150,000 liters per year, along with the domestic market of hundreds of thousands of liters per year, is good news not only for the Dien Chau fishing village but also the pride of Vietnamese seafood. It is a combination of tradition and modernity, between family secrets and the world's advanced technology in food hygiene and safety. Thanks to strict compliance with HACCP regulations from the raw material selection process to the finished product bottling stage, Van Phan fish sauce has met all the most stringent standards for export to the Japanese market since 2019 and is also considered a successful step forward in the traditional fish sauce production industry in Vietnam.
The Vinh orange brand used to be the pride of Nghe An people. Anyone who comes to Nghe An wants to enjoy this specialty as well as other specialties: Vinh eel, Thanh Chuong pickled vegetables, Nam Dan soy sauce... Vinh oranges, especially Xa Doai oranges, are still a gift on important occasions chosen to give as gifts with the "reputation" of being a fruit "presented to the king" in the past. Cut a Xa Doai orange segment on an early winter day, the juice is like shimmering honey, the fragrance immediately spreads throughout the house.
However, for more than 2 years now, Vinh oranges have been gradually fading away in their homeland. In Quy Hop district, in 2020, Vinh oranges had 2,780 hectares, now only a few hundred hectares remain.
Voters and people have repeatedly proposed solutions to save orange trees at meetings of the Provincial People's Council and other economic forums. In Con Cuong and Tan Ky districts, many orange areas are degraded, diseased, and have low productivity and quality. Not wanting to lose Nghe An's precious product, some businesses in Nghe An have made efforts to invest in and preserve this orange variety and have even brought Vinh oranges to demanding world markets such as Japan.
As if by a predestined fate, when the mass orange gardens were devastated by disease, extreme weather, and inadequate investment, the new Xa Doai orange gardens, which were invested in a systematic manner, applied science and technology, and grown according to VietGAP and Global GAP standards, began to yield harvests with excellent quality. These are the 60ha Xa Doai orange farm of the Thien Son orange brand in Con Cuong district, the Thien Son orange farm in Yen Thanh district, and the Xa Doai orange conservation farm in Nghi Dien commune (Nghi Loc) - where each Xa Doai orange is worth its true value of 70 - 80 thousand VND/fruit. And many people have known its reputation and wished to enjoy this "premium" fruit once.
Mr. Trinh Xuan Giao, a farmer who “eats and sleeps” with oranges, has devoted almost his entire life to the Xa Doai orange tree. He has worked hard to learn about the origin and “father” of the Xa Doai orange, devoting his entire fortune to investing in and taking care of worthy orange farms, saving the OCOP products of Nghe An.
To have a market for Vinh oranges, Mr. Trinh Xuan Giao collaborated with leading scientists and engineers to both create seed sources, care for and protect oranges according to standards. On November 24, 2020, Thien Son orange farm was granted Global GAP certification - a global good agricultural practice certificate, becoming the first Vinh orange farm in Nghe An to meet export standards to developed countries. To obtain this certificate, in addition to selecting orange varieties and technical experts to produce oranges according to VietGAP standards, then attending training courses, complying with production standards from fertilization, preservation, harvesting, and transportation so that oranges meet export standards. All crops, livestock, and people on the farm must comply with all Global GAP procedures... From here, Mr. Giao's Vinh oranges have a wide path to export.
Mr. Trinh Xuan Giao shared: To have the first orange trees that meet the standards, the screening process must be very careful. First, choose healthy orange trees with high productivity and the oranges must be delicious with the pure flavor of Xa Doai oranges. Select cuttings from these orange trees to send to the plant variety testing center to test for harmful pathogens, then take them as seeds. Avoid the situation of not passing the inspection stage, which will cause consequences for a series of orange growing areas later.
Regarding fertilizers, you must prepare cow manure composted with molasses, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and preparations for 3 months before putting them in the hole to plant the orange tree. For each different land and soil, there must be appropriate care. Regularly prune the branches of the orange tree from the beginning to create a strong and healthy tree trunk. Limit the use of inorganic fertilizers to create sustainable development for cultivated land. Absolutely do not use herbicides that harden the soil and destroy beneficial microorganisms for plants in the soil.
After the large output, not missing the opportunity, Mr. Trinh Xuan Giao connected and worked to export oranges to Japan to sell in Japanese supermarkets. His farm also signed a contract with Japan to be provided with guaranteed fertilizers and biological drugs and to purchase when there is output. Currently, Mr. Trinh Xuan Giao has a revenue of 5-8 billion VND per year. From Mr. Giao's way of doing things, we can see the potential strengths. If there is no investment in science and technology, dedication, and product upgrading, OCOP products will remain in the village pond. The potential is there, the value is basic, but we must create trust and raise the standards.
Regarding Vinh oranges, not only Mr. Trinh Xuan Giao but also the Xa Doai orange conservation farm in Nghi Loc district invested hundreds of billions of VND to grow and research Xa Doai oranges to bring to the market a quality fruit line. From the success of Xa Doai oranges, Nghe An directed localities and specialized agencies to have solutions to restore Vinh oranges, prioritizing enterprises, cooperatives, cooperative groups, individuals with capital, enthusiasm, long-term investment, associated with projects that ensure conditions to respond to severe climate change like today.