Vietnamese food is nothing without the imprint of fish sauce (nuoc mam). The best Vietnamese fish sauce is delicately flavored and full of umami goodness. Believe it or not, good fish sauce can be enjoyed straight. Seriously.
You can make fish sauce from various kind of aquatic animals (shrimp, mackerel, or squid, for example). However, the best Vietnamese fish sauce comes from the island of Phu Quoc, where the waters are full of a particular kind of anchovy called ca com. I was there in 2007 and visited a number of the fish sauce factories.
At first, I didn't think that Phu Quoc fish sauce could be great. But I was wrong. I visited the source, spoke to the artisanal producers, and then tasted it. Yowza, it was good.
It's hard to get nuoc mam from Phu Quoc abroad, though the Viet Huong (3 Crabs) brand combines Phu Quoc fish sauce with Thai fish sauce. Viet Huong has a whole line of fish sauce that you should check out.
But for 100% Phu Quoc fish sauce, you have to look outside of the United States. Find Knorr brand of fish sauce in Canada and Asia. Or, try to smuggle fish sauce into the States like Bobby Chinn did for me.
Chinese-Vietnamese food writer Julie Wan went in search of the true Phu Quoc fish sauce for herself. She interviewed producers in Vietnam and last week, we chatted about the availability of the real deal outside of the motherland. Julie's findings came out today in a Washington Post article. Her piece offers rich details on how fish sauce is made in Phu Quoc:
"The Best of Vietnamese Fish Sauce Comes from Phu Quoc" - by Julie
Wan (Washington Post, 4/21/10)
If you're a food geek or freak like I am, you'll find Julie's story full of insights!
Related links:
Anh
Interesting post. My father visits Phu Quoc very often, and we do have access to good quality fish sauce in Vietnam. Rumour also has it that some of the better pho shops have better access to the premium fish sauce extract. Who knows, right?
Having said that, I've found another brand from Vietnam making fish sauce from salmon. It's actually quite good but I want to use it a bit more before passing the review.
julie wan
andrea, thanks so much for your advice and expertise! i was especially intrigued by the knorr tip -- definitely have to look for that next time i'm in canada. i'm looking forward to your salmon fish sauce review.
Farmville Expert
Phu Quoc name is so coveted and abused in the fish sauce industry that local producers have been working with the World Trade Organization to protect its appellation of origin.
noel
very interesting. I'm don't understand however, why you cannot find this type of fish sauce in the US?
Andrea Nguyen
Producing food products for export is hard. If it spills, breaks, you've lost lots of money!
Jai
That was a very interesting article. Personally, I'm a fish sauce addict. As Julie mentioned, it's becoming more mainstream in the food world, Italian chefs are using it in their sauces. She also mentioned garum, a Roman version that is still used in Italy today. Really wish we could get the high quality Fish sauce in the US.
Robyn
Interestingly, Madame Dzoan told us that while Phu Quoc fish sauce is best for cooking she likes Phan Thiet fish sauce on the table. But one doesn't much hear mention of Phan Thiet fish sauce outside of Vietnam, does one?
Andrea Nguyen
The Phan Thiet nuoc mam is good too. I've been there and my dad long ago in the early 1960s was the provincial governor of Phan Thiet. He loves nuoc mam.
In the U.S. you can sometimes find "Phan Thiet" fish sauce. Right now, I've got a bottle of "Mui Ne" fish sauce. Mui Ne is a town right outside of Phan Thiet. Great stuff but hard to find.
Maybe this is like balsamic of Modena?
Annie
Andrea, thank you for the article. I too enjoyed reading Julie's article but I couldn't access the sidebar (your second link). If you think it's hard to find good fish sauce in US, it's even harder here in Malaysia--go figure! We're so close yet not many people use it here. Guess I'll just have to make a trip to Vietnam soon.
Andrea Nguyen
Annie, turns out that to access the sidebar, you have to register with the WA Post. Given that, I took the link off the post.
You can get good fish sauce in Singapore, I believe.
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Quoc fish sauce with Thai fish sauce. Viet Huong has a whole line of fish sauce that you should check out.
But for 100% Phu Quoc fish sauce, you have to look outside of the United States. Find Knorr brand of fish sauce in Canada and Asia. Or, try to smuggle fish sauce into the States like Bobby Chinn did for me.
Chinese-Vietnamese food writer Julie Wan went in search of the true Phu Quoc fish sauce for herself. She interviewed producers in Vietnam
Si Tran
I've come to the US since 1987. My wife and I have been unhappy all these years with any fish sauce brand here in the US since they are either have the after taste of MSG or stinky and salty as in the case of fish sauce from Philippine. No matter how we tried to mix or fix these nuoc-mam, they still don't have the authentic taste that I sorely miss, especially my father, a Phan Thiet's native and his family used to own a Nuoc Mam factory therefore my family is very keen with fish sauce - Until not too long ago, I stumbled across this brand, bought a pair ... and boy, my wife and I were blown away. We just bought 3 more cases (36 bottles) as gift for my family in Portland, Oregon and my in-laws in Houston as Christmas gift. We are sure that they will be thrilled as we are - Check them out, you'd be glad that you did and no ... I don't work for these people!
http://nuocmamphuquoc.com/
Susan Dixon
Andrea, what do you think of Red Boat brand fish sauce? I found this on Amazon.
Andrea Nguyen
Hi Susan: Red Boat Fish Sauce (full disclosure: is currently advertising on this site) is excellent tasting. There's a wonderful richness to their condiment. Use a little less than what a recipe prescribes because it's a more pure product.
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Thank you very much for your very thoughtful and considered comment. I approach the journey in very much the same way as you've described yours.
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That was a very interesting article. Personally, I'm a fish sauce addict. As Julie mentioned, it's becoming more mainstream in the food world, Italian chefs are using it in their sauces. She also mentioned garum, a Roman version that is still used in Italy today. Really wish we could get the high quality Fish sauce in the US.
marlon
That was a very interesting article. Personally, I'm a fish sauce addict.