Rich and flavorful fermented crab paste

Three-striped crabs live in burrows under mangrove trees in forests or along riverbanks. The name "three-striped crab" originates from the old days when people habitually named these small crabs based on their physical characteristics, hence the name "three-striped crab".

October is the season for mud crabs. The meat of the mud crabs is firm and sweet only on rainy days. At this time, mud crabs swarm in dense black masses around the base of trees in the mangrove forest.

During her heyday, Mrs. Pham Thi Duoc sometimes sold up to 700 kg of fermented crab paste in a single day.

Poor man's dish becomes a delicacy.

Ms. Pham Thi Duoc (79 years old, residing in Dai Hoa Loc commune, Binh Dai district, Ben Tre province) has over 40 years of experience in making fermented mud crab paste. She was once famous throughout Binh Dai district for her delicious fermented mud crab paste, selling hundreds of kilograms of paste every day.

Ms. Được recounted that in the late 1970s, her family made salt. After drying the salt in the afternoons, she would catch mud crabs around the fields to make fermented crab paste for her family to eat. Many neighbors knew she made fermented mud crab paste and came to ask for some, then praised its delicious taste and advised her to make more to sell.

Good fermented crab paste is made when the crabs are cooked but still have firm flesh and all their claws are intact.

Initially, Mrs. Được made both salt and fermented crab paste. But as the number of buyers for the paste increased, the time spent processing the crabs alone took up all her days, so she switched entirely to making fermented crab paste.

“In the 1990s and 2000s, there were days when we sold up to 700 kg of fermented crab paste, all to wholesale customers who had placed orders in advance. Back then, the whole house was filled with earthenware jars and pots for fermenting the paste, and the whole family spent the whole day sorting and processing the crabs, and we still couldn't keep up,” Mrs. Duoc shared.

According to Ms. Được, there are now only about 5-7 crab catchers left in the area, each catching about 5 kg a day. With such limited raw materials, Ms. Được only produces about 20 kg of fermented crab paste per day.

Sharing her secret to making delicious fermented crab paste, Mrs. Được said: "I learned this trade myself; I didn't learn it from anyone. The ingredients are just crabs and salt, but the way people choose the ingredients, the proportions, and the salting methods are different, so the resulting paste is also different."

Fermented crab paste is mixed with mango, star fruit, pineapple, and carambola to create a famous dish.

Famous specialties of the Western region

According to Mr. Nguyen Hoi, a business owner specializing in local delicacies in Can Tho , fermented crab paste is a dish made with simple, readily available ingredients—sea salt and crabs—but it has become an unforgettable flavor for many. In particular, fermented crab paste is recognized by people in the Mekong Delta as one of the most "rice-consuming" dishes.

"Ba Khia fish sauce evokes nostalgic memories for the elderly, while for the younger generation, it's an experience. Nowadays, not many people buy ba Khia fish sauce, and they only buy small quantities. Conversely, many customers from distant regions order it as a specialty gift," Mr. Hoi shared.

According to Mr. Hoi, the market price for fermented crab paste is currently around 120,000 VND/kg. Fermented crab paste that has been mixed with pineapple, star fruit, mango, etc., to be served as a dish, will have a slightly higher price, depending on the seller.

According to Mr. Hoi's experience in selecting crabs, when buying mud crabs, you shouldn't buy large ones but rather choose smaller ones with plenty of roe because the meat is firmer. If you find crabs carrying eggs, the flavor will be even more appealing.

Fermented crab paste can be refrigerated and eaten gradually. The crab paste mixed with garlic, chili, lime, and MSG creates a unique flavor that is hard to match with any other dish. It tastes even better when eaten with cold rice and wild greens picked from the riverbanks.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/dam-da-vi-mam-ba-khia-dac-san-tru-danh-mien-tay.html