Thanh Hoa boy successfully exports delicious dish made from an animal floating on the coast

Every year, from jellyfish, Mr. Le Pham Thao earns hundreds of millions of dong and creates many seasonal jobs for local workers.

Turning jellyfish into provincial OCOP products

Taking us to visit Thao Linh jellyfish processing workshop of his family in Giang Son village, Hoang Truong commune, Hoang Hoa district, Mr. Le Pham Thao said that people in Hoang Truong commune mainly live on the sea. In addition to catching seafood, people in the commune also have the job of purchasing and processing jellyfish, thanks to which people also have more jobs and a fairly stable income.

According to Mr. Thao, the business of purchasing and processing jellyfish in Hoang Truong commune has only been around for over 20 years. Before, there were a lot of jellyfish, but people did not know the value of jellyfish. Fishermen who went to sea brought jellyfish home and could not eat them all, so they threw them away.

Since jellyfish can be processed into many special dishes, all the jellyfish caught are bought. Even when the fishing season comes, people have to go to the Co To sea area of ​​Quang Ninh and other sea areas to catch jellyfish.

Workers are processing jellyfish at the workshop of Mr. Le Pham Thao's family. Photo: HD

Because red jellyfish are increasingly scarce, fishermen rarely catch them. Red jellyfish are a specialty that costs tens of millions of VND per barrel, so whenever locals catch them, they save them to make delicious dishes. Among them, jellyfish soup cooked with sour leaves is especially popular with customers.

Talking to us, Mr. Thao - owner of Thao Linh jellyfish purchasing facility said: His family has been processing and purchasing jellyfish for decades. After collecting jellyfish from rafts of fishermen fishing at sea, the facility proceeds to pre-process the jellyfish, separating each part of the legs, arms and body of the jellyfish, then using a machine system to clean the slime for 8-9 hours. Next is the step of salting the jellyfish, gradually increasing the amount of salt every day, after 5 days or more the jellyfish can be sold.

"The most important step in processing jellyfish is controlling the salinity, ranging from 20 - 25 degrees is satisfactory" - Mr. Thao said.

After about 5 - 10 days of soaking in a salt water tank, when the jellyfish pieces become clear, the jellyfish is "ripe". At this time, the jellyfish will be taken out to be packed in boxes to prepare for shipping.

According to Mr. Thao, during the salting process, workers must regularly measure the salinity and sprinkle more salt to make the jellyfish cleaner, harder and whiter. When the jellyfish quality meets the requirements, they are put into nylon bags, packaged and then put into wooden crates, each crate weighing 10kg. "In particular, the process of processing fresh jellyfish does not require any ingredients other than clean water and sea salt. The saltiness of the salt will keep the finished jellyfish preserved for 1-2 years," added Mr. Le Pham Thao.

After processing, jellyfish can be eaten with vermicelli, pho, crab rice noodles or mixed with other ingredients to make salad. Previously, the product was consumed a lot in Thanh Hoa , but now Chinese traders come to the factory to buy.

With his efforts, dynamic spirit, creativity and acumen in production and business, Mr. Le Pham Thao has successfully built jellyfish into a 3-star OCOP product at the provincial level of Thanh Hoa, turning jellyfish from a rustic dish into a hometown specialty, present in all provinces and cities across the country.

After being pre-processed, jellyfish are put into salt to cook. Photo: HD

Currently, Thao Linh jellyfish processing and purchasing facility of Mr. Thao's family purchases 500 - 600 tons of fresh jellyfish each year, from which 50 - 60 tons of finished jellyfish are produced. Every year, Mr. Thao's family sells jellyfish to the market, achieving a revenue of 1 - 1.4 billion VND. After deducting production costs, the facility earns a profit of about 200 million VND.

Create jobs for dozens of workers

According to Mr. Le Pham Thao, his family's finished jellyfish is currently selling for 300,000 VND/box, 10kg for jellyfish alone. The best parts of jellyfish are the legs and arms, which are sold for 350,000 VND/box, 10kg.

Finished jellyfish can be processed into many delicious dishes such as jellyfish salad, jellyfish hotpot, sour soup... In particular, jellyfish salad is an extremely attractive and refreshing coastal dish, providing high nutritional content for the body, so it is loved by many people.

Mr. Le Pham Thao - owner of Thao Linh jellyfish processing and purchasing facility. Photo: HD

According to Mr. Thao, the jellyfish processing job is not hard but it takes a lot of time and steps. To create jellyfish products, after catching, workers have to filter and classify the jellyfish body and legs. Next is the preliminary processing, soaking, and removing the slime.

In addition to high income, jellyfish processing also creates jobs for many local workers. According to Mr. Thao, his processing workshop currently employs 15 regular workers with a salary of about 400 VND/person/day.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga - a worker at the jellyfish factory said: "We work for Thao Linh jellyfish processing facility seasonally, lasting about 3 months. Although the work is hard, the income is stable, averaging from 6 - 8 million VND/person/month. When there are many jellyfish, we work overtime, so the salary is also higher."

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Canh - Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoang Truong Commune (Hoang Hoa District) said that jellyfish processing is one of the aquatic and seafood processing industries that brings economic efficiency in the commune, with 4 facilities purchasing and processing jellyfish. However, the majority of people still produce on a small, fragmented scale.

"The jellyfish processing facility of Mr. Le Pham Thao's family has a large production scale and has been recognized as an OCOP product in the locality. Although the processing activity only lasts for a few months, the profit from jellyfish is quite good," Mr. Canh added.

Not only taking care of the family economy, Mr. Le Pham Thao also creates conditions and shares experiences with many young people in the commune who want to learn and visit his processing facility.

Source: https://danviet.vn/chang-trai-thanh-hoa-xuat-khau-thanh-cong-mon-ngon-lam-tu-mot-loai-dong-vat-troi-lap-lo-bo-bien-20240612174437365.htm