• Developing raw material areas for the brand "Thoi Binh snakehead fish sauce"
  • Braised snakehead fish sauce with meat
  • When OCOP products become "cultural ambassadors"
  • OCOP brings agricultural products far and wide

In Hamlet 4, Nguyen Phich Commune, Ms. Tran Huyen Dang's snakehead fish sauce facility is one of the typical addresses, with products meeting the 3-star OCOP provincial standard in 2024. This is not only the pride of the family, but also a testament to the efforts to preserve and develop the traditional profession of local people.

Ms. Dang said that her family has passed down the fish sauce making profession through 3 generations, with more than 50 years of attachment. “When I was young, I saw my grandmother making fish sauce, my grandmother taught it to my mother, and then my mother taught it to me. Making fish sauce is hard but fun, because it is the traditional profession of my hometown. I just hope to preserve the profession and develop and promote the product so that people far away can also know the unique flavor of the specialty U Minh snakehead fish sauce ,” Ms. Dang confided.

Ms. Dang shared the secret, to make delicious snakehead fish sauce, the most important thing is to choose fresh freshwater fish. The fish is cleaned, drained, and salted in the right proportion. After about a week of incubation, mix in rice bran, sugar, garlic... All steps must be done manually, not in a hurry, so that the fish sauce will be fragrant and the fish meat will be chewy.

U Minh snakehead fish sauce products are packaged and prepared for transportation to be consumed within and outside the province. (Photo: CHI LINH)

Currently, Ms. Dang's facility uses raw materials from U Minh Ha snakehead fish, weighing from 100 grams to 1 kg/fish. Each kilo of fish sauce has a retail price ranging from 140,000 to 180,000 VND, depending on the size. The product is consumed strongly both inside and outside the province. Each month, the facility supplies the market with over 1 ton of snakehead fish sauce, and during Tet, the amount of goods sold increases 2-3 times compared to normal days.

To promote the product, Ms. Dang is taking advantage of social networks such as Zalo, Facebook, and TikTok to introduce snakehead fish sauce to customers. She excitedly said: "The number of customers ordering online is large, with customers from Binh Duong and Dong Nai, and they even buy to send abroad as Tet gifts. I am very happy that my hometown's products are more widely known."

Not only does it bring a stable income to her family, Ms. Dang’s facility also creates regular jobs for many local workers. From a small-scale handicraft, now the snakehead fish sauce product has a brand name, with quality meeting 3-star OCOP standards, opening up a sustainable development direction for traditional products of U Minh.

Ms. Dang's U Minh snakehead fish sauce product was recognized as meeting the provincial 3-star OCOP standard in 2024. (Photo: CHI LINH)

Mr. Huynh Hoang Tuong, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Nguyen Phich Commune, said: "Snakehead fish sauce is a typical local product, both imbued with the identity of the U Minh region and having potential for economic development. In the coming time, the commune will coordinate with the province's professional agencies to organize training courses to improve management capacity, marketing skills, and brand building for OCOP subjects. At the same time, propose preferential loans to support establishments to invest in more machinery, improve designs and packaging, to meet current market requirements."

U Minh snakehead fish sauce products are not only a rustic dish, associated with the countryside meal, but also the pride of the people of the river region . From the source of natural freshwater fish, through the skillful hands of the maker, each jar of snakehead fish sauce is like the crystallization of culture, labor and love for the homeland, at the same time encapsulating the passion to preserve the traditional profession.

Achieving 3-star OCOP standards not only helps products reach further in the market, but also opens up a sustainable direction, helping U Minh people develop the economy and enhance the value of products from traditional crafts./.

Truc Linh

Source: https://baocamau.vn/mam-ca-loc-dong-u-minh-vao-ocop-a123323.html