Fish sauce rich in protein thanks to ... wormwood

Adding earthworms to ingredients, Dr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Vice Rector of Binh Duong University has shortened the tempering time and increased the amount of protein for fish sauce.

The type of fish sauce with more wormwood ingredients has been tried and commented by many people at Binh Duong University: delicious and strange.

Help farmers raise worm

Dr. Thanh confided, he started to study because found worm (Perionyx Excavatus) was raised much to make food for fish, but recently, the price of raft fish dropped, stagnant. Therefore, a practical study will find a new development direction to create a 'valuable output' for farmers raising earthworms.

Using cinnamon worm with basic fermentation material is round scad, through many experiments, Dr. Thanh and his colleagues found that: fish sauce with worms of less than 15% has no strong smell of worms.

Red worm or earthworm is one of the worms that are cultured in the world such as India, Australia, Philippines .

In the experiment of 10% more worms, the sauce will produce protein up to 53g / l and the time to get fish sauce only after 165 days of fermentation. Meanwhile, about 30% protein fish sauce has been considered high and fermentation time usually lasts nearly a year.

The result is because wormwood has a high protein content and many bioactive substances (enzymes, microorganisms .) that help accelerate the fermentation process.

New prospects

Dr. Vo Thi Hanh, Ho Chi Minh City's Institute of Tropical Biology, who has many years attached to wormwood, notes: 'If putting wormwood to produce fish sauce to increase protein, shorten the fermentation time, it is very good. . Not only is it good for consumers to use fish sauce but also for people who raise wormwood for their extra income '.

To use as fish sauce, earthworms are farmed with vegetables, tubers, fruits removed but not by cow dung, pig manure as usual. During processing, worms are cleaned before composting with round scad.

In agriculture, wormwood is considered a high-quality protein feed for cattle and poultry. Just providing a very small amount, twice a week will make cattle and poultry grow very fast. Fish, turtles, shrimp, frogs, eels, sea crabs . all love worms. Nutrient-rich products (high protein and amino proteins), digestive enzymes, useful bacteria and antibiotic substances .

Cinnamon worm not only makes food for cattle but can be processed into a high protein dish.Photo: Aries

When asking about the possibility that consumers will be very bored . fish sauce with worms, Dr. Nguyen Van Thanh and Ms. Vo Thi Hanh all said that it is important that the product does not have the strong smell of earthworms.

Many countries around the world people use earthworms to make food like Italy (pate dish), Japan (biscuits), Australia (finished), Korea (worm porridge) . Thousands of years, in China Quoc, people already know how to use worms in medical remedies. Japan and Canada are the two countries with the highest worm use in cosmetic processing.

Dr. Thanh said, supplemented with wormwood fish sauce has been tried by many students and lecturers of Binh Duong University and said there is no frightening feeling. It has a richer flavor and is not much different from the usual fish sauce flavor.

In Vietnam, the Perionyx Excavatus worm is called wormwood, red worm. This is one of the worms that are bred in the world such as Asia, India, Australia, Philippines .

Perionyx Excavatus usually live on the ground, in wet places, there are many compost and firewood. The body of the worm is slightly flattened, has two pointed ends, the adult can be 9cm long, has a ripe red plum body in the back. This is a bisexual soil creature. Cinnamon worm is very flexible, the body releases fragrance. It can live in temperatures of 20-27 degrees Celsius, very suitable for tropical climates.

In advanced countries such as Canada, USA, Australia, Japan . worms are also used to treat agricultural and industrial wastes to avoid environmental pollution.

In Vietnam, earthworms are only used as food for cattle and poultry, and for fertilizing plants. Especially, in Can Gio district, it is known to use worm manure as shrimp pond treatment.