Hong Huy tells the story of making traditional fish sauce for a hundred years

During the recent "launch" days with typical OCOP products at Lam Vien Square, Da Lat, the Hong Huy brand attracted visitors with the story about the hundred-year-old traditional fish sauce processing process in the coastal region of Lam Dong.

Typical rural industrial product at provincial level and 3-star OCOP of Hong Huy traditional fish sauce brand

“A hundred years ago in the Phan Thiet sea area of Phu Thuy ward, Lam Dong province today, our ancestors processed special delicious anchovy fish sauce products according to the combined recipes of the fishing village community.

In the 5th generation, nearly 30 years ago, my parents took over the business and built the Hong Huy fish sauce brand. And over the past 5 years, my wife and I are the 6th generation to continue to develop the production of nearly 10 lines of traditional Hong Huy fish sauce products, along with exploiting and expanding the potential consumption market in and outside Lam Dong province...", the owner of the Hong Huy fish sauce brand, Tran Thanh Huy, began his story with customers.

As fishermen in Phu Thuy ward, Lam Dong province, the fathers and grandfathers of owner Tran Thanh Huy annually take their boats out to sea to catch anchovies from the 4th to 8th lunar months.

Anchovies are caught in a variety of ways, brought ashore, sorted, and then salted in jars and dried outdoors in the sun. Using the traditional craft village's manual technical process, after 1 year, the fish sauce products passed down from generation to generation have a reddish-yellow color, moderate saltiness, and a natural sweet aftertaste from the special anchovy protein of the Phan Thiet sea.

By 2020, owner Tran Thanh Huy (born in 1988) and his wife Le Thi Luc (born in 1989) had been fully transferred the hundred-year-old traditional fish sauce production solution to "establish themselves and their career" with the results from the first jars and pots of salted anchovies.
In more detail, owner Tran Thanh Huy said, with a system of jars and pots neatly arranged in rows outdoors, the anchovies brought in by fishermen from the port are purchased by Hong Huy Fish Sauce Production Facility twice a year during peak periods, each period from 10 to 20 tons; at other times, they are purchased a few hundred kilograms at a time.

Through traditional closed-loop processing and preparation stages, each month we produce about 1,000 liters of various types of fish sauce under the Hong Huy brand, including the following proportions: 10% Lu fish sauce, 30% Nhi fish sauce, 60% mixed fish sauce...

Ms. Le Thi Luc - co-owner of the Hong Huy fish sauce brand continued her husband's story: Anchovies are mixed with salt in a 250 kg jar, pressed under bamboo slats, clean stones, and tightly covered to ripen for 12 months or more. When opening the lid, with experience, "hearing" the fragrant smell, seeing the golden brown color, the anchovy fish sauce is fully ripe, can be bottled and supplied to customers. Also in the process of producing anchovy fish sauce, from 3 to 6 months, the fish and salt are continuously mixed together to dissolve.

The fermentation time continues for 4 - 5 years to produce the traditional Hong Huy fish sauce. And the mixed fish sauce product, the first and second distillation of the fish sauce, blends to create a mild salty taste and a light, fragrant aroma. "For each jar or pot of salted fish with about 250 kg of fresh whole anchovies, the Hong Huy facility collects about 70 liters of fish sauce or 40 - 50 liters of fish sauce, 100 liters of mixed fish sauce...", Ms. Luc shared.

Inheriting the 100-year-old traditional fish sauce processing technique, Hong Huy Fish Sauce Facility was granted the Certificate of Outstanding Rural Industrial Product of the former Binh Thuan province in July 2024 and the 3-star OCOP of the former Phan Thiet city in February 2025. In 2025, Hong Huy traditional fish sauce products will supplement the remaining criteria to be ranked as 4-star OCOP of Lam Dong province.

On the e-commerce website nongsandalatlamdong.vn of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Lam Dong province, it is stated: “With a family tradition of more than 100 years, the ingredients are carefully selected from fresh anchovies and clean salt, the fish sauce products created by Hong Huy always have the true protein content from fish, salty and sweet aftertaste, mild aroma and the characteristic red color of traditional fish sauce.

Committed to 100% clean fish sauce, no colorants, chemicals, preservatives used in its products. All of the above factors create the traditional Hong Huy fish sauce brand.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/hong-huy-ke-chuyen-che-bien-nuoc-mam-truyen-thong-tram-nam-387553.html