These days, many people in Tam Hai island commune take advantage of low tide to go to the rocky beach at the foot of Ban Than mountain to scrape seaweed.
The rocky beach located along the coast of Tam Hai commune is about 10 hectares wide, submerged under water at high tide and exposed when the water recedes. Seaweed grows on this rocky beach. Every day, dozens of local people come here to exploit seaweed and sell it to households who make xu Xa (a kind of food similar to jelly jelly).
From early in the morning, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Han, 73 years old in Tam Hai commune (Nui Thanh district) wears a hat, holds a chisel and a knife bent at one end, looking for each stone with seaweed attached to it to scrape.
The rocky beach has many shells, oysters and sharp rocks, so the women who make a living here must wear gloves, socks and protective shoes.
Continuously putting patches of seaweed in plastic baskets, Ms. Han said “seaweed grows all year round, but the exploitation depends on the water”. Every month, from the 9th to the 15th and the 29th to the 3rd day of the lunar calendar, the tide goes down to the newly exposed rocky beach. In the remaining days, the water in this area is nearly 2 meters deep and cannot be exploited.
The seaweed stays in the water for a long time, so the mud clings to it and is usually dark yellow. People often wash the spot with sea water before putting it in the bag.
Every day, Ms. Tran Thi Hoa, 60 years old in Tam Hai commune, goes to shave from 3pm to 6pm, collects about a kilogram of dried seaweed. Ms. Hoa did not choose a shallow rocky beach, but wore a rain suit, waterproof glasses and went to places where the water was 30 to 50 cm deep to scrape off seaweed.
Face submerged in water to observe, see seaweed, Mrs. Hoa used a chisel to separate the seaweed from the rock.
Seaweed is bought and processed by local cooks, cooked and crushed, using a filter cloth to get water into the mold to harden, and the finished product is opaque white. When eating, each piece of xu xa is cut into small pieces, adding ginger juice, sugar, ice… This is a familiar dish of many people in Quang Nam on hot days.
