One hundred years of fish sauce in the fishing village

Da Nang’s sauce has long been a very special specialty of the ancient capital, playing an important role in the culinary arts of Da Nang.

Drying shrimp paste in Son Tra, Da Nang. There is a dish that smells of home town in Da Nang, which is fish sauce. So much so that people here consider themselves the people of “the region of sauce”, the “people of the sauce”. Fish sauce has long been a specialty of Da Nang, being produced a lot, sold around in the south and north, and exported to foreign countries with an unforgettable taste. Mam ruoc is an indispensable dish in daily meals as well as holidays, Tet, communal events, and ceremonies of the people of Da Nang from past to present. If the Northern people love shrimp paste, the Central and South people prefer shrimp paste. Mam Ruoc Da Nang is famous for a long time and has become a traditional dish of this Quang country. Since ancient times, the people of this place have a profession of fishing and making shrimp paste. Whenever enjoying the taste of this rustic dish, many people remembers their old homeland. Waiting for the sun just enough to stand the shadow of people, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hao (59 years old, Tho Quang fishing village, Da Nang) reversed the place where the shrimp paste has been incubated for a long time, the raw material of the shrimp paste in Da Nang land is made of a torch. sea, a type of sea shrimp in the South called a moron. Rinse and drain, mix the shrimp paste with large-seed salt, let it soak for a few hours, then spread it out in the hot pot, the cement yard is clean, dry for about an hour and then put it in the stone mortar to mash it with white salt. The formula is smooth with 3 torches 1 salt. Done, put out a basket, underneath there are brass, pots, saucepan, pot to catch water pouring down. Then put in the jars or jars to be equal, sprinkle a thin layer of powdered salt, cover with cloth, nylon to seal to prevent mosquitoes from laying on. For about ten days, the sauce is sour fermented, the purple sauce turns from purple to bright red and the aroma is ripe and edible. Every Danang woman knows how to make a few fish sauce dishes to gradually eat in family and as gifts for friends. Making sauce is not easy and has to go through many stages. The bowl is salted according to the ratio of large or small torches. After the salt has melted, to the stage of drying and then grinding and incubating. Finally, reprocess and grind 4 times to separate the shrimp and close into the box. About 3kg of shrimp can make 1kg of fish sauce. Ms. Hao said that each processor has its own secret and has an heirloom flavor that is why. Although making fish sauce is simple, it takes experience to create delicious and hygienic products. But the decisive factor for good or bad fish sauce depends on the time of drying and maturing so that neither sooner nor late. Dried with just enough to wilt, not until dry. As for incubation, the time is just right. The time to incubate the sauce is usually from 6 to 8 months. Purple brown, sweet taste. Before, when monosodium glutamate was not available, people used to replace monosodium glutamate with food, and the food would taste better. Want to be delicious and delicious, you need more spices. The main spices of fish sauce are ginger, crushed galangal, squeezed a little lemon juice is just fine. Fish sauce to eat without rice is also delicious. Want to dipping vegetables, add a little boiling water or rice water to dilute it to have a very typical sauce of the sea. The stages of preliminary processing, salt fermentation or distillation are carefully conducted to create the best quality fish sauce. According to Ms. Tran Thi Hue, the profession of making shrimp paste does not have to invest much capital, and can take advantage of her free time to do. While many places are increasingly improving the production of fish sauce to make the most of the profit, her family still maintains traditional recipes. The stages of preliminary processing, salt fermentation or distillation are carefully conducted to create the best quality fish sauce. “We use new technology, new methods only to help shorten the time and increase productivity, but the quality and traditional taste of the product will never be changed” – Ms. Hue said. Her family does not make seasonal sauce like most other households are following this profession because they are always proactive in input materials. So, her factory can distill fish sauce all year round, even in times of crop failure, boats cannot go out to sea to catch. Ms. Hue has found the best way to preserve and store the raw materials, so she is not afraid of prolonged bad weather. Therefore, her fish sauce establishment always has products to sell to customers. Da Nang fish sauce from the everyday folk dish of the people of Quang is now becoming a highly competitive culinary brand in the market. The sauce of Da Nang has long been a very special specialty of this Quang country, playing an important role in the culinary arts of Da Nang. Every Danang woman knows how to make a few fish sauce dishes to gradually eat in family and as gifts for friends. Da Nang market almost always has fish sauce. Con market also forms a bustling “fish street” bustling around the clock selling all kinds of specialty fish sauce of Da Nang. Da Nang fish sauce from the everyday folk dish of the people of Quang is now becoming a highly competitive culinary brand in the market. Dry seaweed and shrimp paste are specialties of Da Nang this season. Not only supplying shrimp paste to localities in the country such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, the central provinces and the Central Highlands, many establishments producing shrimp paste in Da Nang have exported this rustic dish to many countries such as the US. , France, Australia, Japan … where the Vietnamese community lives in large numbers. Then, when enjoying the taste of this rustic dish, many people reminded of their old homeland.