At 21 pm on the first day of May, Mr. Huynh Van Muoi, 5 years old, received nearly 57 quintals of anchovies from fishermen caught and transported to his house in alley 5 Vo Nguyen Giap street, Son Tra district. Muoi carries fish to the backyard to make fish sauce in the night.
"Fresh fish always has to be made immediately", said Mr. Muoi, quickly turning each batch of fish, picking up all those that are not anchovies, mixing salt with the ratio of three fish to one salt and then putting it in a jar. . When the fish was almost full, he covered the surface with a thick layer of salt and then covered it.
Fisherman Huynh Van Muoi mixes salt to make anchovies in the night, as soon as the fresh catch arrives ashore. Image: Nguyen Dong
The next morning, Mr. Muoi soaked his handkerchief with cinnamon oil and wiped the surface of the jar of fish sauce. Every 3-4 days he wipes once so that flies do not come to lay eggs and produce maggots in the jar.
With the jars of fish sauce incubated for more than three months, the fish starts to rot, Mr. Muoi waits when it is sunny, uses a clean wooden stick to stir from bottom to top, dries in the sun for a while and then closes the lid. It takes at least a year to get the fish sauce from the sun-dried jars.
To get fish sauce, he scooped anchovies with salt for a year into two large jars with a hole in the bottom, fitted with a stainless steel faucet covered with a cloth inside. After opening the valve, he used glass bowls to catch every drop of fish sauce. Every three days, each jar can flow a liter of fish sauce. “The name of the fish sauce is because it is leaked from the bottom of the jar. In some places, it is incorrect to call fish ear fish," explained Mr. Muoi.
At the age of 17, Mr. Muoi learned the craft of making fish sauce from his father, the famous fisherman Huynh Van Mua in the Man Thai sea. People in this sea only make fish sauce with anchovies - belonging to the Arowana family, silver color, back with small black stripes like coal, living in salt water, the size of a chopstick head.
Fisherman Huynh Van Muoi and making fish sauce anchovies in Man Thai. Video: Nguyen Dong
Fresh fish must have silver luster, clear eyes. The best kind of fish sauce is around April-May, when the fish come near the shore to spawn. Whenever a fisherman catches an anchovy in the sea around Son Tra peninsula and brings it back to shore, Mr. Muoi does not wash it with water, but mixes salt to make fish sauce immediately because "washing through water thinks it is clean but loses the taste of the sea. making the fish no longer fresh, the fish sauce has a bitter taste".
Muoi does not make fish sauce from iced fish to avoid adulteration. The rate of one kilogram of salt will marinate three kilograms of fish. For fast fish incubation, the fisherman will use a bowl or a tray to scoop the fish and salt approximately according to this ratio. Fish and salt must be mixed well before being put in the jar so as not to spoil the fish sauce.
According to Mr. Muoi, many people believe that making traditional fish sauce requires maggots to help decompose fish, but this is a "fallacy". Fish and salt do not produce maggots, but flies lay eggs in the mouth of the jar and reproduce. Salted anchovies for 12 months will decompose and produce fish sauce. In order not to have maggots, the fisherman must clean the jars.
In addition to fish sauce, Mr. Muoi also makes filtered fish sauce. This method of getting fish sauce is simpler and faster, just stir the jars of fermented fish sauce, scoop it out and pour it into a large cone-shaped funnel, the top is covered with a fine white cloth to let the fish sauce run down, until the water runs out, then discard it. residue.
“In terms of color, fish sauce is lighter than filter fish. As for the taste, the fish sauce is purer and more delicious than the filtered fish sauce. With a jar of 40 kg of fish, you can get about 12 liters of fish sauce. If you make filtered fish sauce, you can get about 23 liters. Therefore, fish paste is more expensive, selling 160.000 VND/liter, while filtered fish sauce is 80.000 VND thanks to taking advantage of most of the salted fish," explained Mr. Muoi.
Muoi soaked in cinnamon oil to wipe the jar of fish sauce, minimizing the number of flies that lay eggs and produce maggots. Image: Nguyen Dong
In the past, almost every family made fish sauce in the Man Thai sea area and sold it to many regions, now only a few people keep the job. In the golden age, each year, Mr. Muoi's family could brew up to 12 tons of fish, selling about 700 liters of fish sauce, filtered fish sauce and female fish sauce (unfiltered fish sauce).
Mr. Muoi said that traditional fish sauce smelled a bit heavy, but the taste would be delicious. And industrial fish sauce is more fragrant thanks to flavor mixing. Because it is convenient and cheap, many people often choose to buy industrial fish sauce, the traditional profession of making fish sauce is not competitive, so it is gradually disappearing.
Nam O sea area, Hoa Hiep Nam ward, Lien Chieu district, famous for making fish sauce, was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a national intangible heritage in August 8, but now only about approx. 2019 households make fish sauce on a large scale.
Mr. Bui Thanh Phu (39 years old, owner of Huong Lang Co fish sauce brand, Nam O), said that recently, many delegations, mainly from Europe, have come to households to make traditional fish sauce to experience and enjoy. local dishes with fish sauce. People from there also have more income.
Mr. Phu with Huong Lang Co fish sauce brand. Image: Nguyen Dong
Muoi also sells about 200 liters of fish sauce every year for overseas Vietnamese to buy and bring to the US. The coastal villages gradually disappeared by the process of urbanization, the housing area shrank. To expand the scale of making fish sauce, he had to rely on an acquaintance's house with a large yard.
People's Artist Huynh Van Hung, former Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Da Nang, said that as a coastal city, fishermen have long had a tradition of marine craft and made famous anchovy fish sauce, so Da Nang needs a method. conservation project. "Making fish sauce is both a traditional profession and a culture of the sea, and contributes to generating income for people if it is promoted more widely," he said.
According to Mr. Hung, if fishermen keep working hard to make fish sauce, but without the help of the authorities, branches and unions, it will be very difficult. Coastal fishermen are gradually giving up their jobs and leaving the sea. In order to preserve the heritage, the government should find ways to support fishermen to stick to the sea, indirectly protecting the sovereignty of the Fatherland.
