Nam O fish sauce village during Tet season

Every time Tet approaches, the people of Nam O fish sauce village are busy preparing enough fish sauce to serve customers in and out of the city who come to buy as gifts and for consumption. From the beginning of the alley, you can smell the typical fish sauce flavor, mixed in the familiar space of the ancient fishing village.

Huong Lang Co fish sauce facility is not only a familiar address for Nam O fish sauce lovers but also a tourist attraction for many domestic and foreign tourists. Photo: DOAN HAO LUONG

Nam O fish sauce traditional craft village is one of the few craft villages that still exists and develops in Da Nang today, with an age of more than 700 years, located in the two wards of Hoa Hiep Nam and Hoa Hiep Bac (Lien Chieu district). According to the Nam O Fish Sauce Craft Village Association, the craft village currently has about 100 households making fish sauce, annually supplying 200 - 300 thousand liters of fish sauce to the domestic market. In particular, on days close to Tet, each household increases fish sauce production by 20-40% compared to normal days.

With a tradition of 4 generations of making fish sauce, Mr. Bui Thanh Phu, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Nam O Traditional Fish Sauce Craft Village Association, said that to serve Tet, this year his family's Huong Lang Co fish sauce brand is expected to increase production by more than 20% compared to normal days, equivalent to about 8,000-10,000 liters of fish sauce. Currently, there are two main types of Huong Lang Co fish sauce: special and anchovy. "For special fish sauce, anchovies must be aged for over 24 months, while anchovies must be aged for over 12 months according to traditional production processes and are strictly controlled, especially the stages of selecting fish and salting. All are aged in earthenware jars. The fish used to make fish sauce is anchovies aged with Sa Huynh salt. Before being used for distillation to make fish sauce, the salt is aged for 6 months to reduce the astringency, then anchovies of the right size are selected, ensuring freshness and deliciousness, and aged for over 12 months before producing the product," Mr. Phu explained.

Although she no longer has any children following in her footsteps, Mrs. Bui Thi Hoa, owner of Ba Hoa fish sauce (Group 49 Nam O 2, Hoa Hiep Nam Ward) still hires extra workers to provide enough fish sauce for Tet. Mrs. Hoa said that this year she made 300-400 liters more than usual. The fish sauce is made from anchovies bought from Son Tra beach and fermented with Sa Huynh salt from Quang Ngai province. To have enough delicious fish sauce to sell for Tet, she starts fermenting the fish from January until November and December, when she begins filtering the fish sauce. She not only has customers in Da Nang, but also sends it to customers in Hanoi and Dien Bien.

“Despite the economic difficulties, the price remains unchanged, each liter of fish sauce only fluctuates around 70,000 VND. Now my children and grandchildren no longer follow the profession, while I am old and weak so I have to hire workers because the jars are too heavy to carry. Here, everyone makes fish sauce according to the same process so the quality of the products is quite consistent. The only difference is the way of advertising and finding customers,” Ms. Hoa added.

In addition to the brands of Huong Lang Co fish sauce and Ba Hoa fish sauce, Nam O fish sauce village has many famous fish sauce establishments such as: Di Sau, Di Nhut, Binh Minh, O Long, Tran Ngoc Vinh, Ba Cu, Ba Sieng, Ba Lu, Bay Tri, Hai Hiep, Hai Lien, Bay Ngung, Hong Huong...

With a strict production process according to traditional methods, Nam O fish sauce is gradually dominating the market in big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. In particular, after the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recognized Nam O fish sauce making as a national intangible cultural heritage, fish sauce makers in Nam O are more aware of improving product quality. This is also the motivation for the villagers to continue promoting the reputation and historical value of the product "Nam O fish sauce" in the direction of promoting the heritage value, preserving the traditional fish sauce making profession and developing tourism in a sustainable way.

DOAN HAO LUONG

Source: http://baodanang.vn/kinhte/202411/lang-nghe-nuoc-mam-nam-o-vao-vu-tet-3994694/