Fall in love with braised sardines
One morning in November, the kitchen at the Thai Tin braised sardine production facility (Kien Quoc commune, Kien Thuy district, Hai Phong) was ablaze. 20 pots of sardines were placed on a charcoal stove, filling the neighborhood with a fragrant aroma. Outside, batches of fresh sardines brought back from the fishing port were received and sorted by the owner before being pre-processed and cooked. Meanwhile, in the packaging room, two female workers were quickly packing, wrapping, and labeling hundreds of boxes of fish, preparing to deliver to customers from Can Tho.
Talking about his relationship with braised sardines, Mr. Nguyen Sy Thang - owner of Thai Tin establishment said that when he was young, Mr. Thang worked as a chef for several restaurants in Kien Thuy district. The menu of most restaurants had braised sardines, served with white rice and crab and eggplant soup. Diners not only praised the deliciousness, but everyone bought it as a gift.
In 2010, Thang's parents were often sick and his wife had just given birth, so Thang decided to quit his job at the restaurant. At first, to earn an income to cover their living expenses, he and his wife braised sardines, transporting each pot to the city and asking acquaintances to help sell them. The good news spread far and wide, and the business was favorable, so Thang decided to expand production in a professional direction, but still kept the 12 steps of manual preparation and processing to ensure the characteristic flavor of braised sardines of his hometown.
According to Mr. Thang, the sardines that the facility imports every day are all fresh sardines. The more than 10 ingredients braised with sardines must also be clean, such as green bananas, galangal, chay, chili... The chay braised with fish must be chay glutinous rice, sliced, soaked, and dried by hand to create the characteristic sourness and aroma of this dish. The fish is braised in a cast iron pot, cooked under a honeycomb charcoal stove for 12 hours continuously to ensure that the fish is soft on the bones but still firm, not fishy, not broken...
Bringing Kien Thuy braised sardine brand far and wide
It is known that every day, Mr. Thang's family cooks more than 100 kg of sardines, with an annual output of 25-30 tons. All products are made to order from all over the country, most of which are Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh... In 2021, his family's braised sardines were certified with 3-star OCOP.
In addition to Mr. Thang's facility, Kien Thuy district currently has many facilities producing braised sardine specialties, meeting the needs of diners inside and outside the city. Among them are the braised sardine product Lang Chai of Lang Chai Processing Facility, Dai Ha Commune; braised sardine of Sovi Food Company Limited... all achieving 4-star OCOP products. Not only developing the economy and getting rich thanks to hometown specialties, the facilities create jobs for many local workers with an income of about 10 million VND/month.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Kien Thuy district, it is expected that by 2025, each locality in the district will have at least 1 OCOP product; by 2030, at least 1 OCOP product will be developed for community tourism services, eco-tourism and tourist attractions... As for the braised sardine product, the locality has included it in the list of local specialties that need to be focused on developing. Currently, all establishments are making efforts to expand the product consumption chain to other provinces and cities, bringing the Kien Thuy braised sardine brand closer to diners from all over the world.
