Fish sauce is one of the spices favored by the market, with an elaborate processing process that lasts a whole year to produce drops of delicious, rich fish sauce.
Clip: QAThe end of the year is the peak season for catching anchovies, which are the main ingredient for making fish sauce. In Nghe An, trays of fresh anchovies are bought up by locals and traders after arriving at the port. Among them are many households from fish sauce-making villages in the province. Photo: Xuan HoangPhu Loi fish sauce village in Quynh Di ward, Hoang Mai town has about 150 households making fish sauce and is entering the peak season of Tet production. After being imported, anchovies will be mixed with salt and put into fermentation tanks, then covered with bamboo trays and pressed with stones. To make the fish sauce delicious and clear, the fish must be stirred evenly during the fermentation process. Photo: QAHai Giang 1 fish sauce processing village, Nghi Hai ward, Vinh city is one of the traditional fish sauce production villages in Nghe An province. In the days leading up to Tet, people here are focusing on production to supply the market. According to statistics, each year the village supplies about 1 million liters of various types of fish sauce. Photo: QAIn particular, among the fish sauces here, the fish sauce buried underground in the sand is considered the most delicious and premium fish sauce. Each household that makes this fish sauce has thousands of bottles buried under the sand, with only a little bit of the bottle cap exposed. Photo: QAMs. Le Thi Kimm in Nghi Hai Ward, Vinh City said: To have underground fish sauce products to use during Tet, right from the beginning of the year, we have to choose the best fish sauce, put it in a sealed bottle, then bury it in the sand. Therefore, the days before Tet are the time when people in Hai Giang 1 craft village consume underground fish sauce, at the same time, also prepare for a new crop for Tet next year. Photo: QAIt is known that the time to ferment fish sauce underground must be at least 6 months, usually a full year or longer. The longer the fish sauce is buried underground, the more delicious it is. Photo: QAThe fish sauce has to be dug up before it can be sold, and there is still a layer of sand around the bottle. Photo: QAAfter completing the production process, fish sauce will be labeled and supplied to the market. Photo: QAIt is known that the fish sauce processing village of Hai Giang 1, Nghi Hai ward, Vinh city has nearly 80 households specializing in producing traditional anchovy fish sauce, of which about 70% of households make underground fish sauce. Photo: QANot only fish sauce, other seafood products such as shrimp paste, sour shrimp paste... are also being increased in production to serve the Tet market. Photo: QA
