Every year, millions of Vietnamese pilgrims set off for the small town of Chau Doc in the Mekong Delta to pay respect to a local goddess and stock up on “mam,” a type of fermented food made from fresh-water fish, crab or shrimp.
The small town of about 100,000 people is a virtual mam factory which produces hundreds of thousands of tons of the fermented food each year.
In other parts of the country, mam is better known as the pungent, salty amber liquid, often used as an ingredient in cooking or as a condiment.
But the mam in Phu Quoc takes on a different meaning; it refers to a wide variety of fermented fresh-water fish and shrimp which can be used as a main dish, side dish or as an ingredient.
Blessed with an abundant source of product thanks to the mighty Mekong River, Chau Doc people learnt centuries ago how to preserve the gifts of one of the world’s great rivers; and have spiced up their daily meals with thousands of varieties of fish, shrimp and crab ever since.
“The previous generations of my family told me that the craft of making mam has been around for more than one hundred years,” Bay Loc, a local mam maker who has 50 years in the trade, told Mon Ngon Viet Nam (Vietnamese Delicious) Magazine.
“My mom taught me the art of making the fermented food when I was little and I inherited the business from her,” she said.
According to local makers, the process of making mam is simple but only certain types of fresh-water fish can be used to make up the premium quality product that Chau Doc is known for.
The process of making mam includes four to five steps depending on the type of fish used to make the dish.
After the fish’s bones, guts, and scales are removed, the flesh is mixed with salt water and stored in jars for about a month. Each kilogram of fish requires five kilogram of salt.
The fish is then removed from the salt water and sprinkled with roasted rice powder and stored in the jars again for 40 to 45 days.
The last step has the fish being removed from the jars, left to dry and finally brushed with caramel made from palm sugar.
From start to serve takes about two months. Each mam is named after the type of fish used to make the finished product.
But the secret techniques of creating the distinctive taste and smell of different types of mam are the proud possession of each mam maker. Much like Colonel Saunders’ 12 spices, they are a closely guarded secret.
Among the most popular varieties is mam thai made of fermented fish and sliced papaya which is often served with boiled pork, vermicelli and herbs.
Chau Doc and its different versions of mam have entered the daily lexicon of the Vietnamese, from hot pots to fried or steamed dishes.
The unique delicacies of the small town have even found their way to foreign dinning tables in Europe, the US and Australia.
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