Keeping the soul of the countryside in every drop of linh fish sauce

From a simple product of the flood season, linh fish - a small fish familiar to the people of the West, through the skillful hands of Ms. Le Thi Ngoc Tuyen (38 years old, Dinh My commune, An Giang province) has become an ingredient to create delicious traditional linh fish sauce, meeting 3-star OCOP standards.

The thick, fragrant, cockroach-colored linh fish sauce is the result of more than two years of traditional fermentation.

Ms. Tuyen's nearly 10-year entrepreneurial journey not only helped her family escape poverty, but also contributed to bringing the specialties of the river region far and wide.

Starting a business from flood season products

Every September, when the Mekong River's upstream waters flood, the An Giang border area is flooded with alluvial water, bringing with it typical products. Among them, linh fish, a small fish with soft meat and a sweet taste, has long been a "gift" of the flood season, associated with the rustic meals of the Western people.

In 2016, when the rice fields were failing, selling bread along the road only provided Ms. Tuyen with enough rice to get by. Seeing her neighbors rowing boats in the fields to catch linh fish, she suddenly came up with a bold idea to use the abundant linh fish to make fish sauce. At the beginning of the flood season, there were many young linh fish, people caught them and sold them along the canals, at that time the price was only about 12,000 VND/kg. Seeing the fish fresh and cheap, Ms. Tuyen thought of a way to try to make fish sauce for the whole family to eat all year round, which was both economical and the ingredients were readily available in her hometown - Ms. Tuyen recalled.

So she bought a few dozen kilos of linh fish, cleaned them, mixed them in a ratio of 70% fish, 30% salt, and then fermented them in ceramic jars placed behind the porch. Every 10 days or so, she turned the fish over so that the fish could absorb the flavor and the yeast would naturally develop. After nearly two years of fermentation, the first drops of fish sauce were thick, the color of cockroach wings, exuding a gentle aroma, and a rich, salty taste, like a "gift" from heaven and earth after the flood season.

Ms. Le Thi Ngoc Tuyen checks the linh fish fermentation tank at her family's traditional fish sauce production facility.

Ms. Tuyen said that brewing traditional fish sauce takes time and cannot be rushed. There are years when she can only make a few hundred liters of grade 1 fish sauce, but in return, she gets the original, clean fish sauce, without additives, very safe for health.

From small kitchen to OCOP brand

At first, her linh fish sauce was only made for family consumption, and the surplus was sold to neighbors around the house. However, with the rich, rustic flavor of the "homemade" fish sauce, it quickly became known to many people in and outside An Giang province, and orders increased day by day.

Thanks to its perseverance in maintaining quality, in 2023, Le Thi Ngoc Tuyen fish sauce was officially recognized as a 3-star OCOP product at the provincial level, opening up opportunities to bring products to clean agricultural product stores, supermarkets and e-commerce platforms in and outside the province.

Currently, Ms. Tuyen's production facility has more than 50 large ceramic barrels, with an annual fish sauce output of about 1,000 liters of grade 1 fish sauce. The product is bottled in 650 ml and 1 liter bottles, with a wholesale price of 35,000 VND/liter and a retail price of 40,000 VND/liter. Ms. Tuyen also bottles grade 2 fish sauce for only 15,000 VND/liter, suitable for many rural households. In 2025, she boldly purchased up to 2 tons of linh fish to make fish sauce for the following seasons.

Ms. Tuyen's linh fish sauce product meets 3-star OCOP standards.

Although the production scale is still small, her products are available at many points of sale in the province and have spread to neighboring localities. Many customers only know about her through word of mouth, but still choose her products because of the three words "clean, delicious, traditional". The fish sauce making profession requires a lot of effort and hard work, especially in the stages of selecting and fermenting fish. Linh fish is only available for a few months a year, so to maintain year-round production, Ms. Tuyen confided that she has to carefully calculate the purchasing, preservation and storage of raw materials to make fish sauce all year round.

* Bringing the flavors of the West far and wide

Linh fish is a symbol of the flood season, a rustic gift that appears in sour soup, braised fish, fried fish, etc. Now, under the diligent hands of An Giang women, linh fish has become an ingredient to create a specialty product with its own brand. What Ms. Tuyen hopes most is that consumers understand and appreciate the value of traditional fish sauce. From small fish of the countryside, our people can completely make a specialty. Thereby, contributing a small part to preserving the flavor of the homeland - Ms. Tuyen confided.

In the small kitchen of a house along the Ngang Hue Duc canal, Ms. Tuyen has elevated a rustic dish into a commercial product. Each drop of fish sauce not only preserves the flavor of the countryside but also contains the story of the determination, creativity and aspiration of a rural woman.

“What I have today is just the beginning. I will invest more in packaging, labels, and expand the market outside the province so that my hometown’s linh fish sauce can go further,” said Ms. Tuyen, her eyes shining with confidence.

Although there are still many difficulties, for her, faith and perseverance are the biggest secrets to help her brainchild conquer consumers. In the yard, fish sauce barrels are neatly arranged, the fish sauce aroma gently wafting in the wind. Listening to the sound of water dripping through layers of salted fish, Ms. Tuyen believes that the journey of preserving the soul of the countryside in each drop of fish sauce will continue forever.

Ceramic barrels for fermenting linh fish sauce.

With her hard-working hands and desire to change her life, Ms. Le Thi Ngoc Tuyen has proven that, as long as she dares to think and dares to do, from a small kitchen in the countryside of An Giang, she can create 3-star OCOP products, contributing to spreading the flavors of the West far and wide.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/giu-hon-que-trong-tung-giot-nuoc-mam-ca-linh-20251009071957047.htm