Summer sun adds more flavor to soy sauce

In Nam Dan, people in many communes and towns know how to make soy sauce, in which Nam Dan town is where many households produce soy sauce commercially. Phan Boi Chau block alone has been recognized as having a traditional soy sauce craft village. The establishment of Sa Nam Soy Sauce Cooperative has also contributed to the development of soy sauce production in Nam Dan. Photo: Huy Thu

Nam Dan soy sauce is made from four main ingredients: soybeans, sticky rice, salt and water. According to local people, the process of making soy sauce goes through many stages: mold incubation, bean cooking, soy sauce pouring. Soybeans must be of good quality, roasted evenly, crushed, cleaned and cooked for about 12 - 14 hours. Photo: Huy Thu

Good sticky rice is fermented for about a week, then dried and ground. Molding is an extremely important step, determining the quality of the soy sauce. Reddish-yellow mold is the standard mold, when the color changes, the soy sauce will be sweet. Photo: Huy Thu

Most of the soy sauce producing families in Nam Dan today have experience in fermenting and making good molds. Because the fermenting process is complicated and hard, many soy sauce producing households here buy ready-made molds. Some households both make soy sauce and molds to sell to other soy sauce producing households in the area. Photo: Huy Thu

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy (81 years old) in Mai Hac De block, Nam Dan town shared: She has known how to make soy sauce since she was 13 years old, but has been producing soy sauce for sale for about 30 years now. According to Ms. Thuy, after drying the soy sauce for a week, it starts to turn soy sauce, which means adding moldy flour, salt, stirring well and covering it with cloth or nylon. Photo: Huy Thu

Seven days after fermenting the soy sauce, every morning, the soy sauce maker must open the jar lid and stir vigorously about 100 times with a bamboo stick so that the soy sauce mixture dissolves and permeates. Photo: Huy Thu

Currently, in Nam Dan town, there are dozens of households producing soy sauce, each household has from 10 to 30 jars of soy sauce. Depending on the conditions and experience of each household in producing soy sauce, the jars of soy sauce are placed outdoors or indoors. Soy sauce jars are placed outdoors, exposed to the sun, making them easy to dry. In strong sunlight, the job of making soy sauce is more difficult, but the soy sauce has a richer flavor. Photo: Huy Thu

A household that produces a lot of soy sauce can maintain 50 - 60 jars of soy sauce. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong (60 years old) in Mai Hac De block, one of the households that produces the most soy sauce in Nam Dan town, said that her family currently has 60 jars of soy sauce, soy sauce production takes place continuously, with work being busy all day long. Photo: Huy Thu

Currently, most of the elderly and retirees participating in the soy sauce production in Nam Dan town are elderly people. A few households have children who are the younger generation to continue the profession. Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ty (70 years old) in Phan Boi Chau block shared: She and her husband maintain the soy sauce making profession not only to earn extra income, enjoy their old age, but also to contribute to preserving the traditional profession of their hometown. In the photo: The soy sauce jars of the craft village are often numbered and marked with the date of soy sauce making. Photo: Huy Thu

According to Mr. Nguy Dinh Quy (76 years old), a veteran soy sauce maker in Phan Boi Chau block, Nam Dan town, soy sauce can be used after a few weeks of being picked, but to make delicious soy sauce, it must be fermented for about 2-3 months. Nam Dan soy sauce does not use preservatives, but can be stored for years and still be used well. Photo: Huy Thu

Although each household produces according to traditional experience, the common advantage of Nam Dan soy sauce products is their beautiful color, sweet and fatty taste, delicious and can be used to dip vegetables, meat, braised fish, make sauce... After a period of stagnation due to the Covid-19 epidemic, the soy sauce making profession in Nam Dan town is flourishing again. Nam Dan soy sauce specialties continue to expand, present in all markets in the South, the North, and even abroad. Photo: Huy Thu