Diem Dien Thai Binh fish sauce - Delicious flavor never forgotten

Not only famous for its patriotic and revolutionary tradition, Diem Dien town (Thai Thuy) Thai Binh, Vietnam is also known for many famous specialties from the sea, and among them, fish sauce is a special highlight. Despite many historical events, local residents still keep the secret of making traditional fish sauce, completely by hand, without using any chemical catalysts. Excellent fish sauces such as mam chat, mam ca nham, mam ca ano are processed by the talented hands of the people of Diem Dien coastal area, have captivated many diners who have enjoyed them.

To discover the secret to creating the distinctive rich flavor of Diem Dien fish sauce, we went to Vinh Tra craft village, in Diem Dien town, which has a tradition of processing seafood, especially fish sauce. The family of Mr. Hoang Ngoc Khang, one of the households in Vinh Tra craft village, has passed down this profession through many generations and specializes in processing fish sauce, a specialty fish sauce of Diem Dien town. Mr. Khang shared: "Every time we make fish sauce, I always go to Tan Son fishing port, a few dozen meters from my house, to choose large and fresh fish from fishing boats and ships at sea as raw materials. Then, we clean the fish, drain the water, and put it in jars with a ratio of 10kg of fish and 2kg of salt. Finally, we cover the jar tightly to ensure hygiene and prevent the intrusion of other organisms.

Fermenting fish sauce in jars, pots and old fired ceramic jars is an important factor in creating the best fish sauce. Ceramics have the ability to retain heat well when exposed to sunlight, thereby helping the fermentation process of pickling fish to take place more effectively. Jars and pots containing salted fish need to be placed outside in the yard to have open space, avoiding too much sunlight or shade. After about half a month, when exposed to strong sunlight, the lid of the jar is opened to let the fish dry and use clean bamboo sticks to stir the fish until it is smooth.

After a year of incubation and going through the process of filtering the fish sauce many times with baskets, sieves, and cloth to make the fish sauce clear and remove the scum, the fish sauce is dried in the sun for several days, and the result is pure anchovy fish sauce. The most important thing is to ensure the incubation time is at least one year before collecting and decanting the fish sauce. Do not try to shorten the incubation time for any reason, to avoid losing the delicious taste, quality, and reputation of the anchovy fish sauce makers in the Diem Dien sea area.

In addition, in Diem Dien town, there is another special type of fish sauce, called "nuoc mam chit" or "mam rut". Although "nuoc mam chit" is considered the best, due to the elaborate production process, few people in Diem Dien still produce this type of fish sauce. This makes "nuoc mam chit" rare, and it is not easy to find a bottle of "nuoc mam chit" to buy. Usually, people produce "nuoc mam chit" to serve their families and give to friends and relatives, and rarely sell it. "nuoc mam chit" is made from "moi" shrimp, also known as "white shrimp". Each quintal of shrimp only produces about 5 liters of "nuoc mam chit" so the price of "nuoc mam chit" is high, from 200,000 - 300,000 VND/liter. However, the quality of "nuoc mam chit" cannot be compared to that of fish sauce, which has a characteristic aroma and higher protein content. The process of making fish sauce begins with cleaning the shrimp and draining them, then mixing the shrimp with salt in a ratio of 10kg of shrimp and 2kg of salt and fermenting them in jars and pots. After a few days, when the shrimp have absorbed enough salt, they are placed in jars, pots and old fired ceramic jars. Fermenting fish sauce in jars, pots and old fired ceramic jars is considered the best way to create the best fish sauce. Ceramics have the ability to retain heat well when exposed to sunlight, so ceramics help the process of fermenting fish more effectively. Jars and pots containing salted fish need to be placed in the yard to have open space, avoiding too much sunlight or shade. After a while, the lid of the jar is opened to let the fish dry and clean bamboo sticks are used to stir the fish until it is smooth.

After a year of incubation and going through many stages of filtering the fish sauce with baskets, sieves and cloth to make the fish sauce clear and remove the scum, the fish sauce is dried in the sun for several days, thereby creating pure anchovy fish sauce. The most important thing is to ensure the incubation time is at least one year before collecting and decanting the fish sauce. Do not try to shorten the incubation time for any reason, to avoid losing the delicious taste, quality and reputation of the anchovy fish sauce makers in the Diem Dien sea area.

In addition, in Diem Dien town, there is still another special type of fish sauce, called "nuoc mam chit" or "mam rut". Although "nuoc mam chit" is considered the best, due to the elaborate production process, few people in Diem Dien still produce this type of fish sauce. This makes "nuoc mam chit" rare, and finding a bottle of "nuoc mam chit" is not easy. Usually, people produce "nuoc mam chit" to serve their families and give to friends and relatives, and rarely sell it. "nuoc mam chit" is made from "moi" shrimp, also known as "white shrimp". Each quintal of shrimp only produces about 5 liters of "nuoc mam chit" (a type of fish sauce), which makes the price of "nuoc mam chit" high, from 200,000 - 300,000 VND/liter. However, the quality of "nuoc mam chit" cannot be compared to that of fish sauce, which has a characteristic aroma and higher protein content. The process of making fish sauce begins by washing the shrimp and draining them, then mixing the shrimp with salt in a ratio of 10kg of shrimp and 2kg of salt and fermenting them in jars and vats. After a few days, when the shrimp have absorbed enough salt, they are placed on a basket to be ground or rubbed, with buckets and basins underneath to catch the fish sauce that flows down. After pouring the fermented fish sauce into the jars, they are left in a large, airy yard, especially on hot days, to allow the fish sauce to soak in evenly and reduce the fishy smell. After a month, the fish sauce is filtered through a layer of cloth to remove the white salt particles, thereby creating a delicious, pure fish sauce that is unique to the Diem Dien sea.

When visiting families in Diem Dien town, it is easy to see jars of fish sauce placed in the corner of the kitchen. This is homemade fish sauce, used for a long time to serve the family's culinary needs. People here often limit the use of other brands of fish sauce, because they trust their own fish sauce, which does not contain any additives. In particular, for Diem Dien people, in every meal, especially during holidays and Tet, a bowl of local specialty fish sauce is an indispensable dish.