Grilled fish village by Lach Van river

(Baonghean) - No one knows exactly when this grilled fish profession began, but it is known that for a long time, especially in the past 20 years, some households started grilling fish at home and bringing it to district markets to sell. Gradually, Dien Van (Dien Chau) fish spread throughout the province, even to many localities in the country.

Dien Van used to be part of Van Phan land. Although there are no high mountains or wide rivers, it is a land with a very special geographical location. This land is the intersection of many rivers such as Bung River, Vach Bac River, Lach Van River... Dien Van is also known as a land with a long history and rich and diverse cultural traditions. For generations, there have been many craft villages living and getting rich from the products of the sea such as making salt, making fish sauce, shrimp paste..., in which, the most prominent is the profession of grilling sea fish.

After passing Van bridge, you will reach the village entrance, Trung Hau village is located along Van creek facing the sea with dozens of fish grills on both sides of the village's backbone road. Although the people here do not work at sea, fish grilling has been a long-standing traditional occupation of the village, supporting hundreds of families who work as fish grillers for hire and own the grills.

After cleaning, the fish are placed on a tray to dry before grilling. Photo: Xuan Hoa

Mr. Thai Ba Luu (Trung Hau hamlet, Dien Van commune) shared: To get the amount of fish to make in 1 day, around 3-4 am, he and his son go to Dien Thanh and Dien Bich beaches (Dien Chau district) or further to the seaports in Cua Lo and Cua Hoi towns; Quynh Phuong and Quynh Tien (Hoang Mai town)... to get fish.

Most of them buy frozen fish from long-haul fishing boats, a few buy fresh fish caught at night. But to have fragrant, delicious grilled fish without bloating, all the fish must be very fresh to be grilled properly. At around 7am when the fish arrive at the families, the workers in Trung Hau craft village quickly clean the fish, use a knife to lightly score the fish, then arrange the fish on the bed and dry. After the fish is pre-processed, it is quickly put into the oven.

Each day, each of these ovens produces no less than 1 ton of various types of fish. Ms. Luu Thi Trung (Trung Hau hamlet, Dien Van commune) said while grilling fish: “Grilling fish is a very hard job, you have to be diligent and persistent. You have to go to work early in the morning until around 6-7pm every day to finish the job. In the summer, the fish is dried in the sun, the grilled fish is delicious, but those of us who grill fish have to work harder.

The temperature outside can reach up to 40 degrees Celsius, but we still have to sit next to the blazing charcoal stove to grill tons of fish. Although it is warm and comfortable in the rainy season, the fish takes longer to dry, so to make the fish delicious, it requires a longer grilling time. I have been doing this job of grilling fish for hire for nearly 10 years. Grilling a lot has become a habit, and more importantly, my family's main income comes from this job."

Ms. Luu Thi Trung (Trung Hau hamlet, Dien Van commune) with half-grilled fish batches. Photo: Xuan Hoa

To keep the fire at a moderate level, the fish is cooked to the right level, requiring the griller to have experience, the more evenly the fish is turned, the more delicious it is. Even those who learn quickly will need a whole year to get used to the job. Each day, the grill owner pays the women from 150,000 to 170,000 VND/person. Monthly income is from 4 to 5 million VND/person/month.

According to the owner of the kiln, Nguyen Van Luong in Trung Phu hamlet, Dien Van commune, every day, his family grills about 1 ton of fish, hiring about ten workers. If the goods are grilled and sold, the net profit is about 500,000 - 1,000,000 VND/day, if the goods are not sold, they suffer a loss. The most popular grilled fish are herring, mackerel, silver pomfret, mackerel, scad, spotted scad, and scad... Some households also grill squid, but only a few because the price is high and the consumer market is usually mountainous districts.

According to the kiln owners, after being grilled, the fish is transported to several locations in the mountainous districts of western Nghe An such as Con Cuong, Que Phong, Tan Ky, Tuong Duong... Large kilns transport the grilled fish by family cars, while smaller kilns send it by passenger vans.

Most of the families grilling fish in Trung Hau hamlet have been doing this job for 3 to 4 generations. Mr. Dang Van Cong - Chairman of Dien Van Commune People's Committee excitedly said: "The fish grilling profession here has been around for a long time, but it has only developed strongly in the last 20 years. Initially, this fish grilling profession mainly came from households in Trung Hau hamlet, but then spread to other hamlets such as Trung Phu, Yen Dong,...

Currently, the whole commune has about 40 households engaged in fish grilling. Because most households currently only use vacant land in front of their houses or along the river to open their ovens, we are making a project to submit to the superiors to request recognition of the craft village to move to a concentrated area, ensuring no impact on the environment and sustainable development. If the construction of the concentrated area is approved, the commune will have the opportunity to build a more professional fish grilling area with more systematic and scientific processes, especially food safety and hygiene. At that time, the commune will be able to establish a research committee on the consumer market to help people proactively manage both input and output.

According to Mr. Cong, the establishment of a professional fish grilling area will create hundreds of jobs for children in the commune; at the same time, it will be the basis and premise for the Dien Van grilled fish industry to develop widely.

Leaving the fish-grilling village in Dien Van when the sky was already dark overhead, the charcoal ovens along the village road were still glowing red to grill the last batches of fish of the day. The aroma of the fish mixed with the salty taste of the sea in the fish body when grilled created a fragrant aroma typical of this coastal countryside./.

Xuan Hoa - Thu Hien