BINH DINH – Fish sauce from anchovies, scads, painted fish, mackerel with De Gi sea salt, and Dam Thuy lagoon water, has become a specialty of De Gi area, Phu Cat district.
Producing and processing fish sauce is a traditional profession in the De Gi coastal area, Cat Khanh commune, Phu Cat district. According to statistics from the Commune People’s Committee, the whole area has more than 300 establishments and households making fish sauce, concentrated in two villages: An Quang Dong and An Quang Tay. Each year, the facilities produce more than 100,000 liters of fish sauce.
De Gi fish sauce is made from anchovies, scads, painted fish, mackerel combined with salt from De Gi sea and Dam Thuy lagoon water. In particular, salt in De Gi uses new fish salt to create fragrant, salty, not astringent products. Fish sauce has a characteristic yellow or straw yellow color, rich flavor, and natural aroma because there are no chemicals, preservatives, or additives.
Depending on the quality of the fish sauce, the price will vary and is divided into three types. The current popular type costs 60,000-70,000 VND/liter. The premium type costs 120,000 VND/liter and the small type costs 150,000 VND/liter.
The consumer market for De Gi fish sauce is in Phu Cat district, province and the Central Highlands region. Mr. Do Thanh Truc, a fish sauce maker in An Quang Tay village, said the secret to keeping customers is that the fish sauce must be clean and of guaranteed quality. Raw fish must be fresh, washed, and drained. Depending on the size of the anchovy, add salt in the ratio of three fish – one salt, or three and a half fish – one salt. When salting the fish sauce, you must mix the fish and salt well, then put it in jars and jars, then seal it and let it ferment for 6 months to a year. Every month his family sells about 500 – 700 liters of fish sauce.
According to Mr. Nguyen Huu Du, Head of An Quang Tay village, the village has about 670 households. 200 of these make traditional fish sauce. The remaining households mainly work in fishing and aquaculture on the sea and De Gi lagoon. The majority of processing households follow the traditional method of brewing chuchu. Large-scale households can provide 2,000 – 3,000 liters per year. He believes that De Gi anchovy fish sauce always has a slightly stronger smell than fish sauce in other villages. The reason may be because De Gi salt is saltier and the caught anchovies are delivered to the workers in a very short time.
An Quang Dong village also has more than 100 households following the profession. The common point is that the production and consumption of products in the past did not include labels, information, or origin. To develop craft villages and expand markets for people, in 2017, the National Office of Intellectual Property certified the De Gi Fish Sauce brand. Local leaders immediately discussed and mobilized producers to use labels for products and complete information about quality and origin. Many production households have proactively borrowed capital, expanded production processes, and added labels to take advantage of opportunities. To date, many establishments have registered trademarks to expand the market and attract users.
To support people in doing business, the locality also opens training classes, acts as a bridge to access bank loans, and propagates and promotes craft village products. The locality also encourages people to invest, innovate technology, improve packaging, to improve product quality, not only selling in the province but bringing De Gi fish sauce nationwide.
($1=24,000 VND)
Photo,Video: Internet (Vinlove.net)