I miss my hometown fish sauce so much.

Fish sauce is an indispensable condiment in Vietnamese meals. Especially during Tet, famous fish sauce brands from many generations such as Van Phan (Dien Chau), Phu Loi-Quynh Di (Quynh Luu), Nghi Hai (Cua Lo)... not only enhance the flavor of traditional dishes but are also used by people as gifts for relatives as a very unique specialty of the countryside "eating waves, talking wind"...

Keep the fire burning for the profession....

"You go to Ke Van and see.
Few fields, many fish and shrimp
Don't be arrogant.
Van Phan land is very happy
Only three barrels of fish sauce
Take a trip to the capital
Enough to eat and play
Enough pants, shirts and pants...".

The old folk song brings us back to Van Phan land, which has been famous for its fish sauce for hundreds of years. The oldest people in the village no longer remember when this traditional craft started, but in their memories they only remember: Every year, Van Phan land organizes a selection of fish sauce makers to find the best fish sauce to present to the king. The poem "Ngân thay cai mui vô khúc/Cầu tho thi xa con thuy Nghệ An" by poet Cao Ba Quat mentioned the Van Phan fish sauce craft village with the image of hundreds of Nghe An boats following rivers and seas to sell fish sauce all over the country.

In the ancient Van Phan land today, only two communes, Dien Bich and Dien Ngoc, remain to make fish sauce. Although the profession has been lost, the people of Dien Bich are still proud because in 2005, after many efforts to preserve the profession, the Dien Bich fish sauce craft village was recognized. Here, from those with many years of experience in making fish sauce, such as Mr. Tran Qui and Mrs. Mai Lien's family, to those who have been in the profession for decades, such as Xuan Khoa and Xuan Truc's families, the secret to the success of creating the Dien Chau fish sauce brand is "loyalty to the traditional way of making fish sauce". Accordingly, to produce delicious fish sauce, the stage of choosing fish is very important. The fish used to make fish sauce that Dien Bich people prefer is mainly anchovies, black anchovies, and more delicious are mackerel, tuna... which are fish rich in protein. Dien Bich people have a very good experience in choosing fish, which is tasting the fish. Delicious fish always retain the original flavor of the fish after being grilled, both fresh and rich. After being selected, the fish will be mixed with salt in an appropriate ratio, then covered with a bamboo tray, pressed with rocks, and dried in the sun for at least 9-12 months. The way of making Dien Chau fish sauce is also very different from other regions, that is, in the first month, it must be stirred every day to ensure evenness. The best fish sauce, called the essence fish sauce, is taken for the first time with a protein content of up to 35 degrees. In addition to essence fish sauce, there are also type 1, type 2, type 3 fish sauce...

Mr. Xuan is introducing the fish sauce making process in Dien Bich (Dien Chau). Photo: My Ha

Mr. Doan Xuan Truc - Team 4, Hai Trung hamlet - one of the largest and second largest fish sauce producers in Dien Bich commune said: Good fish sauce must have 30 degrees of protein or more, straw yellow color, fragrant flavor. Fish sauce has its own characteristics, many people can make it but not everyone can create delicious fish sauce. Each countryside, each craft village has its own secrets and experiences, creating a different flavor.

Also in Dien Chau and using the famous brand name "Van Phan", Van Phan Seafood Joint Stock Company has another secret in its underground fish sauce brand. It is pure fish sauce, after being processed and packaged, it will be buried underground for two to three years. Although produced in small quantities, this is a product favored by consumers, especially during Tet and Spring. Van Phan fish sauce, a special type that has been kept for a long time, soaked in sesame seeds (with added fat water) will still be very good because it has the ability to protect against the cold for people going to sea in winter, increase the health of divers, and is used as a medicine to treat wind-induced stomachaches and storm-induced stomachaches.

Going back to National Highway 1 is the fish sauce village in Quynh Di commune - a coastal fishing area of ​​Quynh Luu district. With more than 300 households making fish sauce, Quynh Di is the land with the most fish sauce makers in the province today with the famous Phu Loi craft village. Stepping into the village, wherever you go, you will smell the fish sauce mixed with the salty taste of the sea emanating from the spacious red-tiled houses. Phu Loi people are very proud because this is the only area in Nghe An that has many households making fish sauce in the "father-to-son" style such as the families of Cuong Ngan, Ke Ong, Lan Phuong, Hung Lam, Chinh Quang...

There are many secrets to creating the Quynh Di fish sauce brand, for example, they are all made from fish, but the fish from Quynh Luu sea probably has its own flavor, so the taste of the fish sauce here is mild, clear and thick, completely different from fish sauces in other regions. Quynh Di fish sauce is delicious because during processing, it is indispensable to have additives such as sesame, roasted rice, sugar, pineapple, cinnamon... In particular, although it has been "advanced" a lot, Quynh Di people for generations have only insisted on salting fish in earthenware jars, mainly using the pressing method. After the fish has been salted through a season of mild sunshine, a season of dry sunshine, they begin to take out the "nô" (a bamboo tube with holes punched in the jar to flow out, when cooked, the fish sauce is taken out of the jar, without cooking)...

Showing us the earthenware jars that have been shining with the shine of time, some of which have been through many generations, Mr. Hoang Duc Cuong - owner of the Cuong Ngan fish sauce brand said: "My great-grandfather Phon was one of the first people to start the fish sauce business in Quynh. He himself had many times followed the boat to sell fish sauce throughout the northern provinces. By the time of my father, the fish sauce business was thought to have been lost. It was not until 10 years ago, before my father passed away, that he regretted a traditional profession and advised me to rebuild it. Cuong Ngan fish sauce has survived until today thanks to my father's wish" - Mr. Cuong emotionally added.

Need a brand

Every year, the whole Quynh Di commune produces over 1,000 liters of fish sauce (in 2010 alone, it reached 1,250 liters, processing 1,000 tons of fermented fish sauce). The fish sauce making profession has contributed to improving the material and spiritual life of the people. "But now I'm very worried, ma'am. In the past two years, the fish sauce making profession has not been as easy as before" - sadness appeared again on the face of the man in his forties.

Like many other traditional fish sauce villages in the country in recent years, fish sauce makers in Nghe An have encountered numerous difficulties in the face of the "whirlwind" of fish sauce brands. Making a quick calculation, Mr. Thach Dinh Nghia - Vice Chairman of Dien Bich Commune People's Committee said: In the past, there were many households making fish sauce in the commune, but now the number of large-scale production households is gradually decreasing. Product distribution is also only around the districts in the province such as: Que Phong, Quy Chau, Tuong Duong....

Cuong Ngan bottled fish sauce products in Quynh Di (Quynh Luu). Photo: Khanh Ly

Thirst for a consumer market is a major concern for hundreds of households in Phu Loi craft village. Previously, products were sold as soon as they were made, but now that bottled fish sauce is sold at a cheaper price, with more attractive colors and flavors, people often prefer the new product - said Mr. Tran Van Dang - Vice President of Phu Loi Seafood Processing Village Association - Quynh Di. The fish sauce product line produced on an industrial chain has also attacked large enterprises, because according to Mr. Vo Van Dai - Director of Van Phan Seafood Joint Stock Company: Although Van Phan's products were awarded the Gold Medal for High-Quality Vietnamese Products, were awarded the Golden Bridge Award for High-Quality Vietnamese Products by the Vietnam Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and recently won the first Vietnam Seafood Gold Cup in Hanoi... the consumer market is still limited to the province and neighboring provinces mainly because of weak financial capacity and not enough to promote the products to compete.

Amidst all these difficulties, the motivation that helps Nghe An fish sauce makers to remain determined to "keep the fire burning with the profession" is the belief in the reputation of the traditional fish sauce profession. Perhaps because of that belief, although they can still "resolve" modern fish sauce making technology, Nghe An fish sauce owners are still determined not to change the traditional flavor of their homeland because "the color of my hometown's fish sauce is not shiny gold, it's even a bit dark because of the use of rice bran, but once you eat it, you're addicted. After finishing it, you can still feel the rich salty taste" - Mr. Dai added. To maintain the reputation of Nghe An fish sauce brand, Director Vo Van Dai and Van Phan Seafood Joint Stock Company are the first units in the whole province to register copyright for their fish sauce brand. Following Van Phan, Mr. Hoang Duc Cuong's family in Phu Loi craft village also registered copyright with the name Cuong Ngan fish sauce. The desire to register a trademark is also a common desire of nearly 300 fish sauce-making households in Phu Loi craft village, especially when people heard that Quynh Di was selected by the Ministry of Science and Technology to implement the FSPS Project to Support Brand Development (sponsored by a Danish organization) to build the Quynh Di - Quynh Luu fish sauce brand in the domestic and foreign markets. Dien Chau district authorities are also planning to implement a project to build a concentrated processing cluster for the seafood industry. If the project comes into operation soon, the people of the ancient Van Phan land will have more hope to develop the Dien Chau fish sauce brand, so that every time they go far away, or when Tet comes, the folk song "Van Phan land is very happy/Only three barrels of fish sauce/Going to the capital for a trip" will revive.

My Ha - Khanh Ly