I received a phone call from a businessman friend in Ho Chi Minh City, originally from Thới Lai. In the morning with a cloudy sky, the distant impact of a thunderstorm made him nostalgic: “On rainy days like this morning, I miss the unique dish “mắm cá chốt” (*) of master Ẩn in Thới Lai. It’s even more wonderful if it’s accompanied by green bananas, aromatic herbs, and boiled pork.”

“Oh, mắm is a specialty of the entire Mekong Delta, a region rich in fish upstream of the river. Why this mắm of the master Ẩn of the flooded land of Thới Lai? Or you taste the mắm made from field fish not only because of its tastes but also because of your memory of a poor and hard-working countryside”, I asked him suddenly when he reminded me of the mắm Ẩn.

Mr. Nguyễn Văn Ẩn in his establishment.

This dish is sure to be so special that my friend and I and many others are looking for it. Mr. Nguyễn Quốc Hùng - Deputy Chairman of the Thới Lai District Farmers’ Union let us know: “Mắm Ẩn” is the official trademark. Here, people call it “Mắm of master Ẩn” because its creator is a teacher from the village. Mắm Ẩn is rated “Vietnam's Best-Selling Trademark in 2017” for its initial flavors of the land clearing-era dish. We are preparing the paperwork for recognizing mắm Ẩn as an OCOP (One commune, one product) of Trường Xuân commune”.

Master Nguyễn Văn Ẩn (born 1963) tells us that 30 years ago, he thought of doing business to improve the family economy. At the time, the teachers' salaries were so meager, plus they did not have it for several consecutive months.

“The family had little land, my wife did not work, when our first child was born, we did not eat enough. I wanted to trade, but what to do when you didn't have land or capital? "He remembers.

One day, at the table, watching their meal only the mắm of gourami fish and wild leaves from the garden, an idea burst into his head: “Why not choose mắm as a commercial product as long as this dish and others made from fish like nước mắm, con mắm are omnipresent in the meals of the people of the South? Our customers will not fail”.

With the recipe from his mother, having sold the wedding jewelry with the consent of his wife, borrowed money from relatives, he began to make mắm with fish caught from the locals and his wife took care of the sale at the market. The Bà Đầm - Thác Lác region (popular name of the Trường Xuân commune) located on low and wildlands is the ideal living environment for many kinds of fish such as gouramis, mystus, henicorhynchus ... Although they do not have high economic value, these types of fish are suitable for the production of mắm and nước mắm.

The early days of a startup were really tough. Not having been resistant to the violent pressure of the market, he had to resell tons of semi-finished products prepared at a price of a third of the cost price. They encouraged each other to start over.

According to Mr. Ẩn, the preparation of mắm is not too complicated with 4 main steps: prepare fish, salt, sprinkle with “thính” (roasted rice powder), add sugar. Each step, however, requires a tip, which makes the difference.

Thính for fermentation is made from rice and other grains in a suitable proportion, sautéed and crushed. The time of salting and the type of salt (grains of sea salt left for more than a year, without vapors, opalescent white in color, well-salted and which do not hold the bitter taste) decide the quality of the mắm.

“Throughout the South, each locality, even each family has its own specialty, with a typical taste. Mắm from Châu Đốc is known for its sweet taste, mắm from Cà Mau is salty, and mắm Ẩn turns out to be balanced, harmonious between the two. It's a whole process of trying and gaining experiences to be able to create your own brand of business. To be successful, you must first face challenges and put your heart and soul into your work!”, Says Mr. Ẩn.

Mắm Ẩn is now becoming a familiar brand not only in Cần Thơ city with the output of tons per month and a turnover of billions of VND per year but also in other locations all over the country. Many tourists come to visit Thới Lai, to observe the production process of mắm Ẩn and buy it as gifts for relatives.

According to Mr. Trần Tấn Đạt - President of the Union of Farmers of the Commune of Trường Xuân, Mr. Nguyễn Văn Ẩn is a dynamic entrepreneur and active in the voluntary and charitable activities of the locality as the construction of rural transport infrastructure, foundation of the fund for the poor, construction of houses for the poor and deserving families, granting of scholarships to poor students… To our question on the amount of his donations, he replied in a modest way: "It's nothing, all I do is gratitude for this land where I was born and which feeds my family."

* Mắm: salted and fermented fish, a specialty of the Mekong Delta

* Mắm cá chốt: salted and fermented naked catfish