"Golden drop" of the sea

Born and raised surrounded by her mother's fish sauce vats, and constantly following her as she selected and salted fish, the savory flavors distilled from the sea have seeped into Nguyen Thi Thanh Van, from Thai Lai village, Vinh Thai commune, Vinh Linh district, without her even realizing it. And with her love for fish sauce, along with her family, she has created the renowned Xuan Thinh Mau brand.

Pure anchovies - the secret to building our brand.

From early morning, as soon as the boats docked at Cua Tung fishing port, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Van, from Thai Lai village, Vinh Thai commune, Vinh Linh district, was already waiting to select fresh anchovies. According to Ms. Van, for people in Central Vietnam in particular, and the whole country in general, a family meal is incomplete without a bowl of fish sauce. However, depending on each region, each locality, and each family, there are their own secrets and preferences for the type of fish used to make fish sauce. For her, the fish used to make fish sauce must be anchovies, carefully selected, and absolutely no other types of fish are mixed in to ensure a harmonious balance of protein and aroma in every drop of fish sauce. “Anchovies live in the surface layer of the water, feed on phytoplankton, and migrate seasonally. Anchovies have clean intestines and are few in number, resulting in the purest and most stable protein content. That’s why anchovy fish sauce is clearer, brighter, and has less of a strong odor. Choosing only truly fresh anchovies, without mixing in other fish, is a prerequisite for making fish sauce ‘as passed down from our ancestors’,” Ms. Vân affirmed.

Xuan Thinh Mau fish sauce is a popular choice for customers as a gift for their loved ones - Photo: LA

The fish that Ms. Vân selects are usually translucent, with the white powdery lines running along their bodies still intact, and always fresh. Notably, she only chooses fish for making fish sauce in February and August of the lunar calendar each year because this is the breeding season for anchovies, which increases the protein content and aroma of the finished fish sauce.

Ms. Vân said that in the past, when she produced less, to make delicious fish sauce, she had to venture out to sea at dawn, waiting for the earliest boats to dock to select the freshest fish. Now that she produces more, around 15 tons of fish per year, she places orders according to her standards with fishing boats and buys them at a price 1.5 to 2 times higher than the market price. "The anchovies I use to make fish sauce must be fresh, and I only buy fish caught within 4 hours. So, after catching the fish, the boats have to bring them ashore immediately."

"During this process, the fish must absolutely not come into direct contact with ice; they must only be kept chilled in the ship's hold. Everyone says I'm too meticulous, but few know that this is the first step in the process of making pure, high-quality fish sauce," Ms. Van shared.

According to Ms. Van, only anchovies can yield a naturally high protein content of over 40 degrees in fish sauce. This is also the highest natural protein content achievable in traditionally produced fish sauce. The purity of the fish sauce comes from the pure, unadulterated anchovy raw material. The fish are fermented in earthenware jars for a long period of 1.5 to 2 years, sufficient to create a natural fermentation process without any additives.

Made with heart

According to Ms. Van, even now, her childhood memories of fish sauce remain vivid. It's associated with the salty taste of the sea, the pungent aroma of fermenting fish, and the days spent standing in the sun, stirring and drying her mother's jars of fish sauce... All of this has fostered her enduring love for fish sauce. Through hard work and perseverance, starting with just a few jars of fish sauce for family use, in 2013, Ms. Van and her brother opened a fish sauce processing factory. On a relatively large plot of land, initially just a few jars of fermented fish sauce lay scattered around, eventually growing to hundreds of jars. Ms. Van's dedication has given birth to Xuan Thinh Mau fish sauce.

Ms. Vân makes Xuân Thịnh Mậu fish sauce from fresh anchovies, without mixing in any other fish - Photo: LA

People in coastal areas believe that every drop of fish sauce is a "drop of gold," a gift from the sea. Ms. Van said that her initial intention in making fish sauce was for her family's use, not for profit. After purchasing each batch of anchovies, she quickly sorts out any unwanted fish, then applies her family's age-old fish sauce recipe: salting the fish in a ratio of 3 parts fish to 1 part salt.

After being thoroughly mixed with salt, the anchovies are placed in earthenware jars and continuously stirred daily for the first three months, then stirred once every 10-20 days. The fish must be sun-dried for 18-24 months, after which they are pulled out, stored in a warehouse, and transported to a finished product factory in Ho Chi Minh City for bottling before being sold on the market.

“Currently, the production facility produces over 10,000 liters of finished fish sauce annually and sells it on the market for approximately 300,000 - 360,000 VND per liter. Xuan Thinh Mau fish sauce is packaged in glass bottles with a volume of 0.2 - 0.5 liters, featuring attractive packaging, suitable for personal use as well as as gifts during holidays and Tet,” Ms. Van happily stated.

Rich in love

To date, Ms. Van and her family have been involved in this work for over 10 years. Although the time isn't very long, it's more than enough for her to understand why she dedicates so much passion to this work. Looking at her petite figure, meticulously caring for each jar of fish sauce as if it were her own child, one can understand that for Ms. Van, fish sauce is not just a condiment but a product that preserves the "soul" of her homeland. According to Ms. Van, the key point to emphasize is that fish sauce is made from fish containing amino acids, a product of the natural fermentation process of protein in the fish.

Xuan Thinh Mau fish sauce proudly contains 12 types of amino acids that the human body cannot synthesize on its own. These are nutrients unique to fermented fish sauce. Xuan Thinh Mau fish sauce contains 60% - 75% amino acid protein of the total protein content, a level that industrially produced fish sauces cannot achieve.

"The beneficial nutrients in fish sauce are amino acids, nothing else. Without the requirement for amino acids, it's just a dipping sauce," Ms. Van asserted confidently.

Ms. Vân admitted that the price of a liter of her traditional fish sauce is quite high compared to other blended fish sauces. “Many people have asked me why I don’t lower the price or use blending methods… or use enzymes to reduce the fermentation time.”

In other words, instead of the traditional process of making a batch of high-quality fish sauce which usually takes 18-24 months, the above method could reduce it to 8-12 months, or involve adding water or mixing in batches of lower-protein fish sauce to increase production. I absolutely would not do it that way. If I did, the cost would certainly decrease, but then the value of a bottle of pure, concentrated fish sauce would be lost.

A bottle of good traditional fish sauce will initially give a tingling sensation on the tip of the tongue due to its high protein content. First comes the salty taste, then the sweetness, followed by a lingering, subtly sweet and fragrant aftertaste that gradually spreads in the throat. We believe that fish sauce is a product of love, diligently and carefully crafted by our mothers, grandmothers, and sisters over 18-24 months.

This fermentation process also makes fish sauce the only food that absorbs the essence of all four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. And any dish seasoned with "love" becomes much tastier. As Professor Tran Van Khe wrote in two lines of poetry after tasting Xuan Thinh Mau fish sauce: "Making fish sauce and writing poetry. Preserving the homeland, now and in the future," Ms. Van shared.

Le An

Source