University graduate couple succeeds raising cà cuống and making fish sauce

Phan Văn Hiệp (left) is checking raising tank of cà cuống. Photo danviet.vn

HÀ TĨNH — A couple in the central province of Hà Tĩnh is getting rich from raising waterbug, or cà cuống, and making special fish sauce.

The wife was a student at the Academy of Agriculture, and the husband was an engineer at Polytechnic University.

They fell in love and got married after both graduating from university, and started their business of raising cà cuống.

The young couple surprised their families and friends with their unique way of getting rich, which now brings a high yearly income.

The wife, Lê Thị Thơ, 30, also the director of HT Production and Investment Ltd., a Company based in Mai Phụ Commune of Lộc Hà District, told danviet.vn: “Both of us were born and lived in Lộc Hà District – the coastal area. During childhood, the salty taste of the sea, the strong aroma of shrimp paste and fish sauce have long become a love deeply ingrained in our subconscious.”

“Therefore, when we graduated from universities and got married, amid many turns, my husband and I decided to start a business together in our hometown raising cà cuống,” Thơ said.

Cà Cuống looks like a cockroach. However, unlike cockroaches, cà cuống, with a rare and precious essence, is very expensive and sells for VNĐ3.5 million (US$145) per kilogramme.

In the past, wealthy people sought to buy insects such as crickets and stinkbugs. Now, they hunt for cà cuống. Despite the high prices, well-off families are still willing to buy cà cuống essence to make dishes tastier.

The bug’s essence is usually put in fish sauce.

The couple thought about raising cà cuống because their families have businesses making the traditional fish sauce in Hà Tĩnh Province.

They decided to raise the bugs to produce their homeland’s special delicious natural cà cuống fish sauce.

Talking about her fate in raising cà cuống, Thơ said: “When I was young, my friends and I often went to the rice fields to catch a lot of cà cuống”.

“The fat, fragrant and greasy grilled cà cuống became a delicious snack of our childhood,” Thơ said.

However, due to environmental changes, many fields are contaminated with pesticides, so cà cuống has gradually disappeared.

After many sleepless nights and many failed experiments, at their fourth effort, the couple was overwhelmed with happiness when batches of the bugs were successfully raised.

Phan Văn Hiệp, the husband, said: “Cà cuống and its essence can prepare many delicious dishes. Its delicious chewy meat is a precious source of nutrients, and the essence is one of the rare oils that is difficult to replace with any other essential oil.”

“Raising the bugs was not as difficult as people thought. The bugs are specialised predators, so their foods are diverse, including aquatic species such as shrimp, fish and crickets,” Hiệp said.

“All food for cà cuống must be fresh and clean. When released into the aquarium, cà cuống will absorb all the blood and nutrients of its prey. The prey remains can be used to feed poultry,” said Hiệp.

However, raising the bugs still needs careful techniques.

“This insect species is also susceptible to chemicals, so the farming environment must be almost airtight. For cà cuống to grow healthy, raisers could not use any toxic chemicals,” he said.

“Do not let them get infected in the air or around the farming area; just a little mistake, and the bugs can die,” he said.

Cà Cuống, a giant waterbug has a rare and precious essence making dishes tastier.  Photo nld.com.vn

Starting the project from August 2022 to early 2023, the couple has now begun selling the first batch of cà cuống, which consumers have positively received.

The price is high, exceeding their expectations.

A nest of cà cuống eggs is sold for VNĐ150,000 – 200,000 ($6.1-8.2), one commercial cà cuống costs from VNĐ40,000-60,000, a pair of breeding cà cuống is VNĐ200,000 – 250,000.

Adult male bugs will be used to make fish sauce because each male bug has an essential oil bladder, thus creating the unique, distinct and highly nutritious flavour of cà cuống fish sauce.

After carefully selecting male cà cuống, they will be cleaned and their intestines removed, then steamed and put into a 500ml bottle of pure fish sauce at the ratio of one bug per bottle.

Pure fish sauce bottles are now sold in HCM City, Hà Nội and Hà Giang.

Each one-litre bottle of cà cuống fish sauce is sold for VNĐ400,000-500,000.

Besides producing cà cuống fish sauce, Thơ and Hiệp also promote the market of selling cà cuống seed and commercial cà cuống to people in many provinces such as Nghệ An, Hưng Yên and Quảng Nam.

According to Thơ, cà cuống is a species that reproduces quickly in large numbers and lays eggs all year round. They can reproduce once or twice a month, with a successful hatching rate of nearly 100 per cent.

From hatching to selling commercial bugs only takes about 30 – 40 days, while raising them for reproduction takes about one year, Thơ said.

Currently, Thơ and Hiệp’s facility has an area of ​​400 sq.m with 200 breeding pairs, hundreds of egg nests, thousands of baby and commercial cà cuống.

Their total revenue from selling fish sauce, breeding and commercial cà cuống is about VNĐ1 billion ($41,000) a year, and the business creates jobs for seven primary and seasonal workers with salaries from VNĐ4 – 5 million per month.

With the potential and advantages of local climatic and soil conditions and consumer tastes, their company will continue to build and expand the farm area and fish sauce workshop in the coming time.

“Only in this way can the supply be stabilised, aiming to expand the domestic and export consumption markets, and creating jobs for many local workers,” Thơ said. — VNS