Delicious Dai Hop fish cake

Mr. Pham Gia Manh - Member of Hai Phong Craft Village Association, owner of An Khanh fish cake production facility

Coming to Quan Muc village, Dai Hop commune, the first thing you will notice is the aroma of fried fish cakes coming from households producing mackerel and monkfish cakes.

Mr. Pham Gia Manh, 40 years old, member of Hai Phong Craft Village Association, owner of An Khanh fish cake production facility, said: His facility specializes in producing two types of fish cakes: mackerel fish cakes (a product recognized as 3-star OCOP in 2023) and monk fish cakes using traditional technology combined with new equipment and machinery. The fish cake making profession has been passed down from his parents for decades, and he has been involved in the profession since he was in high school. Previously, he only produced about 20-30 kg of products per day, but now it has increased according to customer demand.

Regarding the process of making fish cakes, he said: the main ingredients are fresh fish and cuttlefish, carefully selected, purchased from local fishermen and fishermen from other provinces, brought back for processing. The fish is headed, gutted, filleted, used a spoon to scrape the fish meat, remove the skin and scales, frozen for 20 hours, then taken out when the temperature is 60% cold, then processed. As for the squid, dry it, mix it with fish meat and spices in the ratio of shrimp paste (made by local manual method, this is the spice that creates the aroma and characteristic taste of fish cakes), salt, MSG, ground black pepper, seasoning powder, onion, dried garlic, chili (specially, when making fish cakes, dill is not used so it does not lose the flavor of the cake), then ground by machine, then taken out and mixed and manually pounded until smooth. The manual pounding process aims to create the natural crispiness of the cake, without using additives.

Then, the patties are shaped into circles, fried in cooking oil at 200 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes, until both sides are golden brown, then delivered to customers to eat hot or vacuum-packed for preservation.

With this special method, the fish cake can be used for up to 6 months while still retaining its delicious and sweet flavor. In particular, when eating, the fish cake must be dipped in fish sauce with shrimp to feel its special delicious taste...

Monk fish cakes can also be made into many different dishes, can be fried and eaten immediately, cooked in vermicelli, eaten in hot pot, tomato sauce and many other dishes...

Currently, An Khanh mackerel and monkfish cakes are consumed in supermarkets, markets, and restaurants in Hai Phong, Hanoi , and several other localities across the country with prices ranging from 260,000 - 300,000 VND/kg...

According to Mr. Manh, although it is a coastal area, the raw material of Chay fish used to produce fish cakes also depends on the fishing season and the fishing output of fishermen, so it is often necessary to have a reserve plan in advance, but there is often still a shortage and investing in freezing equipment to preserve fish also faces difficulties in terms of capital and area of the facility to install the machine... Regarding the issue of product prices, sometimes there is competition from fish cakes produced in other areas with quality not as good as Dai Hop's fish cakes, customers who are familiar with Dai Hop's Chay fish cakes can immediately recognize and distinguish the quality...

According to statistics, in Dai Hop commune, Kien Thuy district, there are currently more than 20 seafood processing establishments, of which 20 establishments specialize in processing Chay fish cakes, which is a traditional local product supplying hundreds of tons of products each year to the markets of Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Tuyen Quang, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Ho Chi Minh City ... contributing to increasing local budget revenue, creating jobs, increasing stable income for hundreds of workers. However, according to the assessment of management agencies on product quality and aquatic resources management, the quality of Dai Hop fish cakes is still not high and not diverse. The reason is that production is still small-scale, mainly manual, processing technology in some establishments is still backward, advanced technology in processing, machinery and equipment in production have not been applied to improve product quality, reduce costs ...

It is known that Kien Thuy District People's Committee has proposed and implemented the construction of "Model of applying advanced technology and equipment processes in processing and preserving fish cakes meeting OCOP standards in Dai Hop commune, Kien Thuy district, Hai Phong city 2023". Under the program: "Science and Technology serving the construction of new rural areas in Hai Phong city by 2025 in the field of agriculture and fisheries". In coordination with the Institute of Marine Research and the direct implementing agency is the Center for Fisheries Development in the Gulf of Tonkin. Since its implementation, the project has received the support and cooperation of the majority of people and has achieved many good results.

The successful project helps producers stabilize their lives and maintain the stability of the local seafood processing industry...

HA (according to Vietnamese craft villages)

Source: https://baohaiphongplus.vn/thom-ngon-cha-ca-chay-dai-hop-415390.html