The fish sauce industry has sustained the lives of people in Ba Lang village and has created a unique beauty in this rural area.

Searching for the origin of the fish sauce industry

We visited the Ba Lang fish sauce village having followed the recommendation of Nguyen Viet Xuan, Vice Chairman of Hai Thanh commune. The village came into our view with fish sauce jars clustered like mushrooms in every house. Nguyen Van Dung, 78, is a senior fish sauce maker in the village. He looks as sturdy as other coastal villagers despite his old age. He is a third-generation member of a traditional fish sauce making family in Ba Lang. He says the fish sauce industry existed in the village before he was born. The village is close to the sea and as anyone can remember fishermen have known how to process fish into a delicious sauce, which is an indispensable ingredient in their meals.

In the 1960s, Mr Dung was a young man. He took some bottles of fish sauce to Hanoi for sale. Finding that the sauce was highly appreciated by customers, he encouraged villagers to take fish sauce to sell in Hanoi. By selling the product, he could save money to buy a bus as means of transport.

The traditional fish sauce trade

It is not easy to produce the delicious and sweet-smelling fish sauce essence. Mr Dung says, “Good fish sauce depends on many factors, first of all the selection of good fish. The fish should be anchovy, scad or bream as they produce a large amount sauce essence which is delicious, sweet-smelling and rich in protein”.

According to him, the rate between salt and fish should be 1 to 3. Fish and salt must be mixed carefully before being put in a jar. And then about 1-2 grammes of powdered grilled rice is sprinkled over the mixture. The weather plays a particularly important role in whether the fish sauce will be delicious or not. Big ceramic jars or cement tanks are used to contain the mixture. A small hole is bored at the foot of the jar or tank to put a bamboo or bronze pipe to draw out the sauce. The tank must be covered from rain and dew. A bamboo stick is put in each tank to stir the mixture to accelerate the decomposition process and make the sauce more tasty and sweet-smelling.

Every month, Mr Dung uses nearly 100 tonnes of fish to produce and supply the market with thousands of litres of fish sauce. Traders from different parts of the country came to his house to buy fish sauce everyday. A litre of quality fish sauce can be sold at VND25,000-30,000.

Fish sauce making is a hard but stable job which can be done the whole year round and generate a return of 4 to 5 times higher than the original invested capital. A sauce maker can earn VND1-1.5 million a month. The trade has helped change the lives of many families. Nguyen Thanh Chau, Nguyen Van Dung, Nguyen Van Tuyen and many others have built two-storeyed houses and have bought a range of modern conveniences.

Fish sauce goes to the city

Quang Minh hamlet where the commune’s fish sauce industry is most developed has 475 households. According to Nguyen Van Hoa, a local Party leader, all the households can produce fish sauce for their own meals and 80 percent of them live by this trade.

Nguyen Van Tuyen is the first to promote fish sauce to the market. He says , “I was extremely frustrated when looking at fish sauce bottles from other localities on sale in the market. I didn’t think our products are inferior to them. In 2003, I built a fish sauce workshop with bank loans and my own savings. The Ba Lang - Lach Bang Tuyen Hoa trademark was registered and recognised by the Vietnam Intellectual Property Department. Since then I have sold 40,000 litres of fish sauce every year”.

Similar to Mr. Tuyen, Ms. Tham also developed her trademark and has sold thousands of litres every year.

Nguyen Van Nhi has purchased fish sauce from the village to sell in Hanoi for 10 years now. Every month he transports thousand litres of fish sauce to Hanoi to supply restaurants and retail shops. Ba Lang fish sauce is highly appreciated and has a band of regular customers in the capital. Currently, three workshops are operating in the village and their products are sold to Hanoi and neighbouring provinces.