Keep the soul of the sea
I arrived at My Thuy village, Hai An commune when the summer sun had begun to heat up. In a windy corner of the yard, Mr. Phan Thanh Thiem was busy working on a row of tightly covered earthenware jars, occasionally opening the lids to check on the batch of shrimp that was ripening in the sun. With a gentle smile, he invited me to sit on a wooden chair, then slowly told me about the profession that he called a part of his mother's flesh and blood.
Mrs. Vo Thi Thoi, Thiem’s mother, was once famous for being the best fish sauce maker in the village. She passed away, leaving her son not only the tools but also the secrets refined over the years. Now, Thiem is the one who inherits those secrets to create drops of fish sauce that are the color of a cockroach’s wings and have the strong aroma of fermented sea fish.
“Good fish sauce is all about choosing the fish and salting it,” he said. Each type of fish has its own salt ratio, which must be calculated so that it is enough for the fish to cook slowly, not too salty to slow down the hydrolysis process, nor too bland to make the fish sauce spoil quickly. After being marinated, the fish is put into jars or tanks, packed tightly with a thick layer of salt on top, and then left to ripen gradually for 7 months to a year.
The fish sauce filtering process takes place at night, not because of any special custom, but to avoid flies and keep the fish sauce batch as pure as possible. The filter, the bottle, and the label are all meticulously cared for by him as if each drop of fish sauce is a source of pride. As for shrimp paste, a specialty ingredient of this coastal area, it can only be made during the shrimp paste season, which lasts from November of the previous year to April of the following lunar year. Every time the sea begins to change color, fishermen use gold to drag the shrimp paste to shore. The fresh shrimp paste is washed, mixed with salt in the right proportion, left overnight, then dried in the sun, pounded finely, mixed with bright red salt water from the shrimp paste..., and continued to dry in the sun. Good shrimp paste is smooth, fragrant, rich in flavor without being harsh.
“During the 2025 Lunar New Year, my facility sold more than 3,000 liters of fish sauce,” he said, his eyes shining with joy. In 2024, his family’s fish sauce facility followed consumers to many provinces, from Quang Binh , Thua Thien Hue to Ho Chi Minh City. In a competitive market, traditional shrimp paste still maintains its position, not only thanks to its quality, but also because of the heart and passion of the craftsmen.
Fishermen in Hai An coastal area buy mackerel to make fish sauce.
Wings for the boats
In the afternoon, Hai An sea was calm. I followed Mr. Phan Thanh Minh to the sandy shore, where small composite boats were dodging the waves, returning after a day of fishing. The smooth hulls of the boats, glistening with plastic in the afternoon sun, were the result of Mr. Minh's diligent hands.
Unlike his brother, Minh's childhood was spent traveling with his father across the central coast to build and repair boats for fishermen. The rough, calloused hands of the forty-year-old man are witnesses to many seasons of sea hardship. Minh said that traditional bamboo boats, once the main means of livelihood for fishermen in coastal areas without estuaries, have gradually faded into the past. The wind changed direction, the waves grew stronger, and the needs of fishermen changed, forcing him to switch to building composite boats. New boats, but the old spirit, is still the heart of those who work closely with the sea.
“Composite boats are lighter, less water-absorbent, durable, and do not require much wood, suitable for the current alarming environmental situation,” he explained. From 2022 to now, he has personally built nearly 300 composite boats, with prices ranging from 20 to 100 million VND depending on the size. In addition, he also accepts converting bamboo boats to composite, contributing to preserving the old soul in a new shape. Each boat is born from a painstaking process, from choosing materials, making frames, corbels... to the final step of “drawing eyes” for the boat. The eyes of the boat, like a silent belief of many generations of seafarers, are to ward off evil spirits, praying for a safe trip.
Talking about the two people I just met, Mr. Dang Xuan Thanh, Acting Chairman of Hai An Commune People's Committee proudly said: "Although not going out to sea like many other fishermen, Mr. Thiem and Mr. Minh, each with a different profession and passion, are continuing to preserve the saltiness of the sea in their own way. From the jars of fish sauce carrying the love of their homeland, to the boats that take people through the waves, they are proof of a generation of fishermen here who are still persistently preserving their traditional profession in the new era!"
Source: https://cand.com.vn/Xa-hoi/nhung-nguoi-gin-giu-vi-man-cua-bien-i770851/
Comment (0)