Following each wave, the people of Nam O fishing village, Hoa Hiep Nam ward, Lien Chieu district, Da Nang city this season pulled together to the sea and crawled onto each slippery moss-covered cliff to scrape seaweed jam – a godsend. give. Although bringing a high income, this job contains many dangers, especially for women.
Mango jam is a precious “water vegetable”, which mainly grows on the rocks and reefs on the coast. In Nam O, seaweed jam appears around October and November of the lunar calendar when the weather starts to turn cold. Depending on the climate each year, it can last until the end of January or mid-February next year. People who go to pick jam, in addition to monitoring the weather, also have to watch the water go down and up.
| Nam O rapids in the season of seaweed jam. Photo: Phuong Nhung |
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| Ms. Tran Thi Lien (50 years old, living in Nam O) share: “Starting at 6 a.m., she came here to scrape the seaweed jam. You and the people here pick seaweed about home Eat so you have only rudimentary tools and go near the shore, what about those who mine for sale have to go boat ra further. Each session like that, she only shaves half a kgenough to cook soup for the whole family to eat”. Photo: Phuong Nhung |
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| Grandma Lien is Plastic factory workers in Hoa Khanh Industrial Park. At this time, the industrial park had a surplus of labor, so she stayed at home to find a new job, so she went to make jam. Her son is sick, her husband has a herniated disc and cannot work, so she becomes the main breadwinner of the family family. Thanks to seaweed jam for family meals grandma also save a money to go to the market. Photo: Phuong Nhung |
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| In the last days of this season, Mrs. Hoa (61 years old) took advantage of the few “sea treasures” left on the rocks near her house. Photo: Phuong Nhung |
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| To keep the fresh taste for customers, seaweed jam after picking is washed right at the beach. Photo: Phuong Nhung |
Although it is said to be a job “picking fortune from the sea”, not everyone is interested. This job requires hard work, perseverance and courage. For the women who specialize in scraping sea jam, each of their trips starts from 3-4 am when the weather is still cold, until almost 12 noon. They had to cross the jagged, smooth rocks to scrape off a few kilograms of jam. Because of the specificity of the job, each person should prepare their own luggage including sandals with strong grip, neat clothes, a piece of metal to shave and a racket.
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| Nearly 20 years of working with the profession of “picking sea buds”, Mr. Bui Van Sau (57 years old, Nam O village) shared: “Jam Rong is a double source of income for his family. From February to August, he goes diving and from mid-October, he goes to scrape jam. Uncle’s family has a boat, so they often take people in the village to scrape jam on the rocky rapids far in the middle of the sea. On average, his boat collects about 20 kg of seaweed jam every day. |
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| “1 kg of fresh jam at the beginning of the season sold 200,000 VND, near the end of the season, it decreased to 120,000 VND. When 10kg of fresh jam is finished drying, only 1kg of dried jam remains, so the price of dried jam is also higher, up to more than 1 million / kg. In addition, there is also a type of rolling jam (1 sun drying) that is also sold for 700k/kg. Not only sold, street jam is also given as a gift to people far away, “said Mr. Sau. Photo: Phuong Nhung |
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| At first, everyone thought that seaweed jam was easy to pick, but when Mr. Sau experienced it, he saw the hardship and danger behind. Workers have to put in their best to get 4-5 kg of jam per session. Sea jam contains sweat, even the life of the picker. About 4 years ago, someone died because of this profession – photo clip |
Whether fresh or dried seaweed jam can be processed into many delicious and nutritious dishes: cooking soup with shrimp, stewing with bones, deep-frying, stir-frying,… The dishes are simple but imbued with the salty taste of the sea, filled with the taste of homeland for the expatriate children.