Cua Khe fish sauce, a traditional craft village reaching out to the 'big sea'

Join hands to build collective brand

Photo caption — Ms. Truong Thi Bon (Owner of Cua Khe Bon Thai Fish Sauce) mixes fish with salt, the first step in fermenting fish sauce.

With her hands deftly mixing trays of fresh anchovies with coarse salt, Ms. Truong Thi Bon (owner of Cua Khe Bon Thai Fish Sauce establishment, Thang An commune, Da Nang city) shared: since 2014, Cua Khe fish sauce craft village has been recognized by the People's Committee of the former Quang Nam province as a provincial-level traditional craft village, building a collective brand. After that, the fish sauce-making households participating in the craft village all used the Cua Khe Fish Sauce brand, along with each household's own name.

With over 30 years of experience in the profession, Ms. Truong Thi Bon commented that since being certified and having the brand guaranteed, in general, the products of Cua Khe village have sold more than before. The people are very grateful for the attention and help of the authorities at all levels and are all determined to maintain and improve the quality of the products to build the Cua Khe fish sauce brand to be more famous.

Ms. Truong Thi Bon's business alone ferments about 20 tons of raw fish each year, producing about 15,000 liters of fish sauce. The fish sauce products are packaged in glass bottles to ensure safety, with labels clearly stating the origin, ingredients, protein content, etc. Being a traditional product but with methodical and professional investment, Cua Khe Bon Thai Fish Sauce has been certified by the People's Committee of Thang Binh District, Quang Nam Province (old) as a typical rural industrial product in 2024.

In addition, to make full use of the rich raw materials of her hometown, Ms. Truong Thi Bon also invested in a production line to produce canned, instant anchovy. Currently, the product has achieved 3-star OCOP certification from the People's Committee of Quang Nam province (old). Thanks to her efforts to overcome difficulties, Truong Thi Bon's business household not only "lives well" with the traditional profession, but also creates jobs for 3-4 main workers and many seasonal workers, helping local women have more income...

Not far away, the Cua Khe Tam Tuoi Fish Sauce facility (Thang An commune, Da Nang city) is also busy preparing goods to serve the upcoming Lunar New Year consumption period.

Mr. Ha Thanh Tuoi, the owner of the establishment, shared: Cua Khe fish sauce village has a tradition dating back hundreds of years. The people of Quang still pass down the saying "first Cua Khe fish sauce, second An Phu tea" to talk about this craft village. The name Cua Khe originates from the fact that the village is located next to a stream flowing from the river straight to the sea, so there are many plankton living in the water, attracting many species of fish to come and feed. That rich source of seafood is the foundation for the formation of the traditional Cua Khe fish sauce village as it is today.

The reason why Cua Khe fish sauce has a special and unforgettable taste is because the anchovies used to make the sauce are local ingredients, caught by fishermen around the area from the coast to Cu Lao Cham. Boats set sail the night before, and early in the morning, the fish are brought ashore to make the sauce, without ice, so the fish are very fresh. The best season for making fish sauce is around January, February, and March of the lunar calendar. The fish sauce is brewed for over 12 months to produce a product, so it is very rich in flavor and delicious.

Mr. Tuoi also said that the village's fish sauce industry had once faced difficulties due to lack of outlets, and many households had stopped production. However, since the local government paid attention to restoring and building a collective brand, it has become more well-known today. In addition, the younger generation of the village has been educated successfully and has business knowledge, so when they come back to develop the traditional profession, they have many initiatives to help Cua Khe fish sauce go further.

Reaching out to international markets

This year, at the age of "thất thập cổ lai hy", Mr. Ha Thanh Tuoi is still very passionate about the traditional fish sauce profession of his father, however, both he and his wife are old and weak. Currently, he and his wife are passing on the fish sauce making profession to their eldest son, Mr. Ha Van Thuan.

With the acumen of a Bachelor of Economics , Mr. Ha Van Thuan has promoted the brand, introduced products to many domestic and international markets. Thanks to that, recently, Cua Khe Tam Tuoi fish sauce facility has exported the first batch of 2,000 liters of fish sauce to the Japanese market. This is a good sign not only for the Tam Tuoi facility but also for the whole Cua Khe fish sauce craft village.

Mr. Ha Thanh Tuoi happily said: “Japanese partners are very demanding but also very professional. They require us to maintain product quality so that we can cooperate in the long term. Regarding the facility, we are also investing in more jars and raw materials to increase fish sauce production, meeting the increasing demand of customers. Previously, I fermented about 70 tons of raw fish each year, but this year it has increased to 100 tons of fish.”

In addition, Mr. Tuoi also designed a product display area right in his yard to introduce the culture of the traditional fish sauce village. Through the landscape drawings and ancient objects of his ancestors, the family hopes that domestic and international tourists will have more experiences when coming to Cua Khe fish sauce village.

On the local leadership side, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Thang An commune affirmed that the commune has many advantages in developing the marine economy. Especially the number of large boats, over 140 of which are fishing at sea. Thanks to that, the seafood processing sector is also developing strongly, such as the Cua Khe fish sauce craft village currently has about 60 business households, with many good quality products.

In addition, Cua Khe fish sauce craft village is located between large tourist areas and resorts in the South of Hoi An, so it has a lot of potential for developing community tourism. The craft village still retains the wild, natural beauty of a fishing village, and the people are very friendly and hospitable. Some families have invested in and built homestays, attracting many domestic and international tourists. Bringing tourists to the traditional craft village not only helps introduce the local folk culture but also helps people earn more income from selling products.

The Chairman of the People's Committee of Thang An commune also said that previously, the authorities of Thang Binh district, Quang Nam province (old) also paid attention to, supported, and built projects to develop the Cua Khe fish sauce craft village. However, this area is stuck because it is in the planning of the coastal resettlement area of Binh Duong commune (old), so it is not allowed to build or repair infrastructure, roads, and bridges. Currently, the concrete road in the village is very small, degraded, and often flooded, causing difficulties for trucks carrying goods and raw materials to come in and out to purchase and trade products. The commune government proposed that the authorities of Da Nang city soon implement the planning, or remove the "suspended" planning, to create favorable conditions for infrastructure investment for the Cua Khe fish sauce craft village.

On the local side, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phong said that the commune will continue to promote the traditional craft village, promote the Cua Khe fish sauce brand, apply science and technology to enhance the brand, and gradually bring products to domestic and international markets...

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/nuoc-mam-cua-khe-lang-nghe-truyen-thong-vuon-ra-bien-lon--20251125072908969.htm