Nam Dan's Soybean jam

As well as Thanh Chương's Nhut, Tuong Nam Dan (Nam Dan's Soybean jam) is well known not only in Nghe An but also in the whole country. It is used as a kind of sauce or souse on rice. It is very popular in meals of every family in Nam Dan District. It is made of soybeans, glutinous rice, and corn.

It is different from Tuong Ban, Tuong Nam Dan has yellow chrome colour. The smell has aroma taste of fried soybeans mixture with the taste of mould of glutinous rice and corn.

Tuong making requires not only technique but also patience. People prepare to make it from the fifth lunar month.

To have good Tuong, the moulds have to dry in the sun. The mould is made of glutinous rice or corn. If the mould is made of glutinous rice, rice is cooked, then dry, spread on broad flat drying baskets, cover by longan leaves. When it becomes mould, dry it in the sun. If the mould is made of corn, corn is made to sprout shoot, at that time the starch of corn transforms in to sugar. It will sweet. Pounding it in small, dry and cover by longan leaves. When it becomes mould, then dry in the sun. Frying soybeans, let get cold, make break into 2 or 3 pieces. After that cooking it, put into jar and dry in the sun.

The water to make Tuong is chosen sophisticatedly. Many people like to use rain-water. If have no rain-water, they have to take water from Lam River at the quiet night, let deposit sediment, then decant it carefully.

Next is to mixture mould with Tuong and adding salt which follow the recipe. If put too much salt, Tuong will be salty, not sweet, lose the good taste. But if put too little salt, Tuong will be tasteless and the Tuong making is fail.

At the lifetime, Uncle Ho liked eating Tuong very much. When came and saw him, the Nghe An delegations always present him the Tuong bottle of his native place

Nghean