Like the hierarchy in a certain definition, fish sauce is a dish reserved for the class that still has many difficulties to survive. But I dimly realized that the fish house society still has its own rules and voices. The snakehead fish sauce is cooked with pork fat, sugar + monosodium glutamate + ground pepper, dipped with boiled okra or cucumber, or eaten with purple potato soup cooked with shrimp or minced meat only for the wealthy. The pot of braised fish sauce is even more remote because it is expensive when it comes to bacon, snakehead fish and silver shrimp, … I choose friends with a cup of fish sauce very early. My mother told me to buy a tamarind from her sister’s 5 Pieces, go back and eat with cold rice. Selling sour tamarind to Saigon with lots of zinc, needing to be tall, sister 5 is young but likes to eat betel nut. She’s so cute, she never takes money and keeps telling me to eat as much as I can. Mam ruoc is no longer lonely when choking fish comes to share joy and sorrow. My mother and I often sit and tear fish sauce and eat it raw with herbs, banana chips + star fruit and cold rice. Asking the elders in the West, I received the answer: the West knows how to make fish sauce from Indonesia and snakehead fish sauce is suggested by Khmer people. 2. Lost in the youth in Can Tho for 5 years and 11 months, I know Tay Do is very famous for hot pot with fish sauce, but I have never tried it, because the dish with a lot of money is only for receiving precious guests. Time has passed, it has also been windy and rainy and we know each other a lot, in my eyes, the South is the path of fish sauce and islet pot (hot pot), like a familiar saying from friends: If you don’t eat fish sauce, you are not a local West!. In my young years, I still don’t have a satisfactory answer when Chau Doc – An Giang and Ca Mau are always affectionately called “the kingdom or land of fish sauce”, but Can Tho is resounding with fish sauce hotpot. Asking the elders in the West, I received the answer: the West knows how to make fish sauce from Indonesia and snakehead fish sauce is suggested by Khmer people. Borrowing the method of making beef sauce from snakehead fish in the Ho Sea, Can Tho is the economic center of the Southern Continent, where “white rice with clear water” has created a method of fermenting fish with Vietnamese identity: using Listen to fermented roasted rice, instead of cold rice. The Khmer people are sincere and honest, but the cuisine is still entangled in the wild. Living in harmony between the two rainy and sunny seasons along the Mekong River, both the Khmer and the Southern people gradually perfect the rustic dishes from fish sauce. Khmer people in the West know how to apply more spices to make beef sauce wrapped in green banana leaves more fragrant. Snakehead fish in the pot of braised fish of the West is replaced with basa or howling fish for fatter. At that time, when I heard about the original way of fermenting beef sauce, I did not dare to eat it, not to mention the stories of weaving and adding charms from folk about the Khmer. Then I try to practice and feel very delicious! 3. The time I had a meal in Phnom Penh, it was so delicious with Prahok Kob. Mixed beef sauce with bacon + beef and dangerous chili, wrapped in green banana leaves and grilled on charcoal. Just raw cucumber, eggplant and vermicelli, mixed with fish sauce, I’m full, I don’t care about other dishes… That night, I also learned the national spirit of the Khmer people through the mouth-watering saying “No prahok, no salt”, deeply understood: without beef sauce, the meal cannot be delicious! Southeast Asian countries all have their own “country spirit”, which I have also tasted such as Ngapi – Burma, Kapi – Thailand, Trasi and Petis udang – Indonesia, Bagoong – Philippine, Belacan – Malaysia, Padaek – Laos, … In my eyes, Vietnam deserves to be the “Lord of fish”. The variety and abundance is so rich that I cannot count all the separate categories by region… 4. The rain is pouring heavily, eating fish sauce to realize the bold, honest, and innocent features of the old countryside. Processing is as easy as the identity and life of the fish, when the fish is choked with a little water, boil it to get the juice. If you want the fish sauce to be strong or light, depending on the amount of fresh coconut water you add to dilute the fish sauce. Bring to a boil again, I season to taste. Among the spices I’ve tried, for me, garlic and lemongrass are the best, so I minced them and put them in the hot pot to add extra fat. Looking at the plate of meat, everyone will be amazed, but those who like to eat fish have the same opinion: the best is to eat vegetables with fish sauce! When I cook hotpot, I think of my mother, because she foresaw my fortune: old age, no job to earn money, so I have to eat fish sauce to change day by day…

Red-eyed carp are raised by many households in streams, with high economic efficiency. A villager in the commune said that he had an affinity with this fish farming. Once he visited a friend in Sa Pa district, Lao Cai province, he saw that people here raise fish in a stream a lot, with little maintenance costs, and easy to sell. When he returned, from the water in the stream near his house, which flowed all year round, he started to raise fish. He chose the rocky slot and dug 4 fishponds with a total area of ​​up to 5,000 m2. In the midst of a pond, he worked more to bring water from the stream. The fingerlings were bought by him from hatcheries, including simple tilapia, carp, grass carp, etc., so the quality of seeds is always guaranteed. In Sin Thau commune, people raise fish entirely on elephant grass, banana leaves, maize and pureed cassava, without using pellets or industrial bran. Therefore, the quality of commercial fish here always ensures the clean element, firm meat, which is favored by many people inside and outside the region. Some households earn more than 200 million VND a year from fish farming taking advantage of the stream flow. But in Khanh Hoa province, where for many generations of Raglai people, T’rin people only know how to catch stream fish, hunt porcupines, and now there are suddenly fish farms with “nationality” all over Europe and Australia . It is a life-changing story in Son Thai commune, Khanh Phu, Khanh Vinh mountainous district. Going to Da Tay mountain area, beside Se Ooc stream (Son Thai commune), visiting Khanh Vinh cold water fish farm, everyone was excited. Between the four mountains and forests, dozens of large and small aquariums with 6,000m2 of water surface to raise sturgeon, snow grouper look very superficial. According to the farm’s technical manager, the cod grouper is a luxury fish, specializing in cold water living in Australia, but brought here still to live well. This farm also breeds sturgeon. The fish here grew faster than the fish raised in Da Lat. Sturgeon in Da Lat raised from 15 to 18 months to be sold, but here only 12 months, the fish had enough weight to bring to the market. Also in Khanh Phu commune, beside the winding Yang Gang, the fish farm of more than 1 ha is leaning against Treo hill (New hamlet), the scene is also very interesting. The fish farm seems to fall into a valley, far from residential areas, but close to the stream, with an area of ​​10,000m2 of water surface. Starting in 2018, the fish are in good season, grow well and give high income. Currently, each kg of fish sold at the source is more than 200,000 VND, about 10 tons of fish per month for sale. Farmers said that in order to get results today, people have gone through many difficulties. At the time of stocking, everything was favorable, the fish grew quickly. But in the first season, when it was ready to sell (each one from 1.6 kg – 1.7 kg), it suddenly died in mass. The fish farmer was shocked. But if they stop, all enthusiasm is considered to be dissolved into smoke. In the end, we gathered and reworked and then learned from experience, so the following cases all gave good results. Raising fish in streams is the most difficult, unfortunately, when it comes to sudden floods. At that time, it was very difficult to protect the fish from overflowing. Therefore, during the rainy season, fish farmers have to take turns “on duty”, if the rain is heavy and the water rises, they must immediately notify everyone to take care of them. The streams are still the same for thousands of generations, but if you have determination, have capital, learn experience and techniques, fish farming here will bring a great source of income.

Nga Nam Floating Market is an attractive destination attracting tourists to visit, buy and sell. Located in the southwest of Soc Trang province, Nga Nam town, the waterway gateway to the two provinces of Bac Lieu and Ca Mau, at the same time as the intersection of the five river branches, is gradually becoming an attractive new destination. tourists. People in the southwestern region always advise, come here, do not forget to buy snakehead fish sauce, anabas fish sauce with the famous folk flavor: “Fish sauce with minced meat duck seeds / Thuong Sao flavor of Nga Nam”. Nga Nam town is 60 km far from Soc Trang city, 80 km from Can Tho city along National Highway 1A, the East borders on My Tu district and Thanh Tri district (Soc Trang province); the North borders Long My town and Long My district (Hau Giang province); the West borders Hong Dan district (Bac Lieu province); the South borders Phuoc Long district (Bac Lieu province). While the tourism and service industry brings many socio-economic changes to neighboring localities, Nga Nam is somewhat quieter. The natural landscape in Nga Nam is not really outstanding compared to many other localities in the Mekong Delta but still has the advantage of pure nature, not affected by commercial and industrial activities. . In addition, the locality also owns a variety of cultural resources of three ethnic groups: Kinh, Hoa and Khmer Nam Bo, with architectural works: pagodas, churches, temples, historic sites … forming groups of potential sightseeing and tourism. In addition, Nga Nam town owns a convenient waterway and road network that can connect rural residential areas with the central area, as well as with other provinces. Notably, this is the gateway for tourists to connect the tour to the western provinces: Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, Kien Giang, Hau Giang. With favorable natural conditions, in recent years, Nga Nam town has had significant changes in socio-economic development. The limited tourism service economy is also seeing positive changes. The World Bread Organization and Action on Poverty (AOP) in Vietnam, the Consultative Institute for Rural and Mountainous Socio-Economic Development (CISDOMA) have conducted research to assess the CBT potentials in Nga Nam aims to identify opportunities to build new business models to help local people increase their income, preserve traditional cultural values, protect the landscape and environment, and gradually adapt and limit climate change impacts. According to project experts, Nga Nam has great potential for developing community ecotourism. Firstly, Nga Nam floating market is the most potential tourist destination. The market has been around for a long time, located at the intersection of five rivers: north to Phung Hiep, east to Thanh Tri, south to Phuoc Long (Bac Lieu province), west to Long My town ( Hau Giang province), the remaining branches go to Vinh Quoi commune, Nga Nam town. The market starts to meet around 3am and is busiest at 5am to 6am, lessens around 8am and ends in the morning. The whole scene of the market is like a vivid, multi-colored picture from vegetables and fruits to the image of the gentle rustic bra in the middle of the river. The sound of the paddle splashing the water, the call to buy goods on the canoe, the interest shell, the five-leaf, three-leaf canoe up and down… creates a very joyous scene. Helping the easy transmission of information between sellers and buyers, “crooked” trees are an effective means of this type of floating market. The “koi” tree is made of old bamboo, about 5 m high, with a sharp beveled angle for plugging and pliers when it is parked, the top is punched with holes to skew the rope, hang goods. From a distance, looking at the “crooked” trees, customers can find out what kind of goods to buy. Currently, due to the increasingly perfect road traffic system, some traders have turned to the form of onshore markets. However, the floating market is still operating quite bustling, still retaining the characteristic spirit of the southwestern floating market, which is a Soc Trang tourist destination that cannot be ignored. About 5 km from the town center is Tan Long stork garden in Tan Binh hamlet, Long Binh commune. The stork garden owned by the family of Mr. Huynh Van Muoi was formed decades ago, covering an area of ​​about 1.5 hectares with thousands of storks gathered every afternoon. This is also the locality with six ranked monuments, of which two monuments are nationally ranked: Ba My Dong Temple (Vinh Quoi commune) and the Victory site of Nga Nam area (ward 1); four relics are ranked at provincial level: Thanh That Minh Tien (My Tay A Hamlet, My Quoi Commune); Thanh Tri District Party Committee Base Area – Nga Nam (My Quoi Commune); O Chum Pagoda (Vinh Quoi Commune) and Victory Fortress Nga Nam (Ward 1). O Chum Pagoda is a typical relic of the Khmer Southern people, has a large campus and the location is also very convenient to access by both river and road. Currently, with the support of the local government, the socialization movement and the abbot’s devotion, many work items, the temple’s space is built and renovated. The pagoda is also a place to preserve and keep two ngo boats, the symbolic means of Nga Nam town to compete in the famous boat racing festival in Soc Trang and the Mekong Delta provinces. Coming to Nga Nam, tourists can visit the raw material area and the production of custard-apple tea, visit the orchard, experience knitting water hyacinths, cycle along the canals through the hamlets. Vinh Quoi commune, My Quoi commune and along the Phung Hiep Quan Highway, the amateurs’ song … In recent years, domestic and foreign tourists love to join the local people to participate in experiential activities such as collecting fruits, fighting catching fish, slapping fish, gardening, making beef cake, bean flour cake, banana cake … Regarding accommodation establishments, there is currently a two-star hotel with the number of 30 rooms; 14 accommodation establishments with 157 rooms are eligible to serve tourists. A tourist boat terminal is being invested and is about to put into operation and use, a private tourism company is operating. However, according to the leader of the Soc Trang tourism industry, besides its advantages, Nga Nam town is facing many difficulties when implementing community tourism. In addition to the basic difficulty that the tourism management team is inexperienced, the awareness of the community’s tourism is almost absent. This is the cause of spontaneous development of tourism, ineffective or wasteful investment, and the quality cannot meet the needs of visitors without good control and guidance. Besides, the issue of environmental protection in the locality has not been focused, people are littering in the floating market area, attractions, and gardens. At the historical and cultural sites, there are not many guides who are knowledgeable about culture and history to guide visitors. The handicraft households work infrequently, unevenly distributed, it is necessary to have a mechanism and train the people to welcome and guide visitors to participate in the experience. In addition, it is necessary to synchronously invest, improve the quality of the system of passenger boats, train tourists’ safety skills, and have a support mechanism for private businesses to boldly invest in the field. tourist transportation such as river ships, electric cars, trailers … Community based tourism is a type that does not require too much investment, but for a difficult locality like Nga Nam, it is very necessary to take advantage of and take advantage of capital. Sources of capital can come from state agencies, non-governmental organizations, investors, travel agencies and the source of socialization in the population. However, as project developers say, the most important factor is still the people. In addition to essential tourism operations such as cleaning the environment of landscapes, houses, welcoming guests, cooking, guiding tours … it is necessary to promote cultural advantages, restore traditional dances, singing, music. In the residential community, forming core groups in the community, creating favorable conditions and encouraging families with members to participate in learning, training tourism management, actively promoting tourism according to new trends, appropriate to the rapidly developing technology context.