Processing eel - a money-making profession in Yen Thanh

(Baonghean.vn) - Long Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District annually purchases and supplies dozens of tons of processed eels to the national market. This profession has created jobs and increased income for hundreds of local workers.

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Ms. Tran Thi Chuong, owner of an eel purchasing and processing facility in Bac Son hamlet, Long Thanh commune, sorts eels before entering the processing stages.

For many years now, farmers in Long Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district have boldly invested in building eel purchasing and processing facilities to meet all customer needs.

Ms. Tran Thi Chuong, owner of an eel processing facility in Bac Son hamlet, Long Thanh commune, said: To ensure the quality of eel after processing, the eel must be alive. The eel is put through boiling water mixed with salt and crushed fresh turmeric to remove the slime, and the meat is firm and not cracked.

The family of Ms. Tran Thi Chuong, Bac Son hamlet is an eel purchasing and processing facility with more than 5 years of experience. Ms. Chuong said: On average, every day she purchases and processes 400 - 500kg of eels, attracting 13 regular workers and about 10 seasonal workers. Eel processing is not too complicated, but must follow the correct technical process to ensure the quality and nutritional value of the eels.

When eels are caught in the field, they must be alive. When preparing them, boil water with salt and crushed fresh turmeric or pure turmeric powder and add the eels to clean the slime, prevent the meat from cracking, and give it a nice yellow color. Then take it out and use a bamboo knife to cut the eels, remove the internal organs, bones, and head. For every 1kg of eel that has been processed, you will get about 0.7kg of eel meat.

In Long Thanh, there are 20 eel purchasing and processing facilities, each facility creates jobs for about 15 - 30 workers on average, at least 5 - 7 workers, with an income of 4 - 6 million VND/month.

The important step is separating the bones and meat of the eel.

Previously, customers bought live eels in Styrofoam boxes, selling for 85-90 thousand VND/kg, but now they mainly buy eels with meat removed, selling for 140-150 thousand VND/kg. The number of workers participating in the preliminary processing is increasing and has a stable income.

Ms. Dinh Thi Phuong - An eel processing worker shared: Before, after the harvest season, women often had to go to the fields to catch crabs and snails, the work was hard, but since the eel processing profession was established, women have started to do it, the work is not too hard, each month women have about 4.5 - 6 million VND, we can buy by-products such as bones, heads, and tails of eels to make animal feed.

After going through the steps, the eel will have a finished product, beautiful yellow meat, and a very attractive turmeric aroma.

Currently, Long Thanh commune has about 20 large-scale eel purchasing and processing facilities, not to mention the number of "subcontracting" processing facilities by households. At peak times, these facilities import about 1.5 - 3 tons of eel every day, then process and sell it to markets inside and outside the province, mainly Vinh City, Hanoi, Da Nang and partly to China. During the period from July to October of the lunar calendar, the quantity of goods consumed is very large, at this time, in addition to the fixed number of employees of each facility of 30 - 35 people, they also have to hire 10 - 15 more workers to work continuously during the day to complete the work and meet the orders.

Eels are packaged, each package weighs 1kg, depending on the needs of customers, they can come and pick them up immediately or be stored in the freezer, ensuring enough quantity according to the order before exporting. At this time, eels are mainly imported for restaurants and hotels to cook eel porridge and prepare some dishes to serve tourists.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Sy - Vice Chairman of Long Thanh Commune People's Committee said: The profession of purchasing and processing eels has brought great efficiency, households that have invested and established purchasing and processing facilities have become visibly richer, with an average net profit of 30 - 50 million VND per month, with large households earning up to hundreds of millions of VND per year. Creating regular jobs for about 150 - 200 workers, not including seasonal workers.

In addition, by-products such as bones, heads, and tails of eels also create conditions for the development of poultry and waterfowl farming in the locality. This is a sideline but has actually provided the main income, so the Party Committee and the Commune People's Committee have also made a comprehensive assessment and have many policy mechanisms such as creating a legal corridor, location, and land, then contacting the Yen Thanh Electricity Authority to allow households to have their own power system to install machinery and freezers for purchasing and processing.

Mr. Tuan

Yen Thanh Station