Keep making soy sauce

Located in the suburbs of Viet Tri city, Tan Duc commune has long belonged to Doan Ket and Thanh Cong areas, Minh Nong ward is not only known as the area with the largest area of ​​safe vegetable growing in the city, but for many years, this place also has the profession of making soy sauce, bringing stable income to the people, contributing to poverty reduction and changing the face of the suburban area.

Minh Nong Ward currently has more than 20 households making soy sauce for many years.

Walking on the long concrete roads winding around the village, just by seeing a yard full of earthenware jars, you know that the family is making soy sauce. We stopped in front of a house with a large, airy yard with dozens of earthenware jars lined up neatly under the gentle autumn sun. Just stepping into the gate, the sweet aroma of soy sauce was enough to awaken the taste and smell of "unexpected" guests like us.

While welcoming us and continuously opening the lid of the jar to stir the soy sauce, Mrs. Pham Thi Huong Giang - one of the long-time soy sauce makers here shared: “Making soy sauce depends a lot on the weather, the sunnier the sun, the more fragrant the soy sauce. Previously, soy sauce could only be made in the summer, in the winter without sun it was very difficult to make, the soy sauce could easily “spill”. Every day, we had to open the lid of the jar, stir well and add water to the soy sauce, dry it in the sun, cover it tightly when it rains so that rainwater does not get in and make the soy sauce go bad”.

Soy sauce is an indispensable condiment in Vietnamese people's meals, especially in riverside villages, where soy sauce is indispensable to prepare fish and shrimp dishes caught from the river. Along with daily life, the soy sauce making profession has existed for nearly half a century here in the form of "father to son" and is made by hand, not mass production, so it retains its delicious, rich flavor.

Previously, people mainly made soy sauce to serve their family's daily life and sold it in small retail stores in the city. "Good news travels fast", so the people's soy sauce is increasingly known to many people. The stages of making soy sauce require meticulousness and care, from choosing ingredients to molding and seasoning soy sauce. Thanks to the experience gained over many years, households in the village have been able to produce soy sauce all year round while still ensuring quality.

Currently, the two areas have more than 20 households making soy sauce with a selling price of 40,000-45,000 VND/kg. On average, each year, households process 5-7 tons of soy sauce. The main consumer markets are neighboring provinces and cities such as Vinh Phuc , Hanoi...

In particular, recently, Minh Nong ward has established and launched Tan Duc sticky rice soy sauce cooperative as a stepping stone to create momentum for development, expand the consumption market and affirm the Tan Duc soy sauce brand. The cooperative was established on the basis of linking local households with many years of experience in the field of processing traditional sticky rice soy sauce, purchasing 70-80% of soy sauce output for members. At the same time, for large, stable and long-term orders, the cooperative will sign contracts to supply safe, good quality products with clear traceability of origin.

Due to its characteristics, Tan Duc used to be a locality with a very low average land area, so to make a living, people were always sharp, calculating and finding a suitable direction to suit the conditions of a suburban area with limited land and a large population. Thanks to the soy sauce making profession, people have more income, creating diversity in the development of local economic sectors, reducing the rate of poor and near-poor households, contributing to the change and development of the city of the river junction.

Vy An

Source: https://baophutho.vn/giu-nghe-lam-tuong-218117.htm