Phu Quoc fish sauce: more than 200 years with the natural marine resources

Phu Quoc fish sauce with amber color has been and is a name mentioned by many people as well as very popular in the Vietnamese fish sauce spice village. Phu Quoc pearl island – where there is sunshine, blue sea and especially the “national soul, national drug” spice called fish sauce.

History of over 200 years old fish sauce trade village

Phu Quoc is known as the pearl island with many beautiful landscapes, along with extremely beautiful and famous beaches in the eyes of tourists. Not only that, Phu Quoc is also famous for traditional fish sauce villages that are over 200 years old.

Before the arrival of fish sauce, the people here lived mainly on two main occupations: fishing and hunting wild animals. In addition, they also know how to build a wooden boat to build small boats for fishing to get the needs of food and drink in daily life.

With increasing catches but less consumption, the fish began to overflow. To overcome this, they have come up with a way to better preserve the fish and make it usable for days. They preserve it by putting sea salt marinated with fish in jars,

At first they only made in small jars then slowly formed wooden boxes to pick up small wooden boxes of about 2-3 tons, gradually larger than 5-6 tons of fish, wood for packaging is Litsea wood, supporting , goats are harvested in the forest … and used rattan twirling circle, wood and rattan mainly in the Island, anchovies to make fish sauce is anchovies, chalk, pepper stripes, anchovies are exploited. year round, but the best quality fish season is about 4 months of the calendar (June – 10 lunar calendar) then fish make fish sauce to have the best quality.

Fish are mixed with salt at the rate of 3 fish to 1 salt for 10 or more years of incubation in a completely natural fermentation environment without using any proteolytic enzymes to shorten the fermentation time, then remove and mix. the finished product is called nuoc mam, the fish sauce has a light aroma, amber color, salty taste of the tongue, sweet aftertaste.

Why Phu Quoc fish sauce made from anchovies

For Phu Quoc fish sauce, the main source to create delicious fish sauce is anchovy. This place is blessed with seaweeds and ephemeral, a great source of food for anchovies. Therefore, every year around July to December, people here begin to go to the sea with fishing trips and abundant harvests.

After the fish are caught, they will be selected again to eliminate trash fish. With the way of processing fish sauce of Phu Quoc people from ancient times to the present, only anchovy can bring great flavor to daily meals.

Phu Quoc fish sauce is famous for its high protein content (36 ° – 43 °), which has a tender, sweet, and aromatic flavor and anchors. The difference of fish sauce coming from Phu Quoc comes from the production method as well as anchovy materials. To make the taste of fish sauce different, people here only use special anchovies only living in the Gulf of Thailand and Phu Quoc waters. In addition, the process of composting fish pickers in large wooden containers with a capacity of 10 tons to 15 tons of anchovies. It is the method of composting fish that is different from other localities that gives fish sauce in Phu Quoc a special flavor.

Why must use Ba Ria – Vung Tau sea salt

People in Phu Quoc assert that if Phu Quoc fish sauce does not use Ba Ria’s salt, it will not guarantee the sweetness, natural fat and the perfect amber color of delicious sauce.

Those who make fish sauce in Phu Quoc said that for many years now they have only used Ba Ria salt to marinate fish. Salt according to fishermen going to the sea to fish is salted in the middle of the sea.

Ba Ria salt is produced by the method of drying water on natural algae skin, local soil advantage and typical climate. The salt is small, solid, sharp, with a light grayish white color, no yellow light.

The seaweed is a layer of seaweed on the salt crystallized cells are dried and rolled down to form a skin covering the field surface, preventing salt from contacting with the clay ground below. The salt case in Ba Ria – Vung Tau lasted from September – October of the lunar calendar last year until the end of March of the lunar calendar next year – the period without rain and hot weather lasted.

How to identify the real Phu Quoc fish sauce

Is any sauce called Phu Quoc fish sauce also a Phu Quoc fish sauce? The correct answer is “no”. Only brands of fish sauce produced in Phu Quoc, that is, have a barrel manufacturer standard of the local Ministry of Health, will be recognized as Phu Quoc fish sauce.

Currently on the market there are many facilities producing fake Phu Quoc fish sauce. Therefore, to identify the original Phu Quoc fish sauce consumers need to note the following characteristics:

• Colors: Phu Quoc fish sauce has a natural amber color by the fish fresh marinating right on the boat with the time of brewing in wooden crates for up to 12 months.
• Protein: The fish sauce on the pearl island is high in protein, so the housewives often add some ingredients such as lemon, sugar, and boiled water to cool the fish sauce to suit the taste of the members and to improve the health of family.

Should choose reputable brands in the market such as our SASCO fish sauce brand: Phu Nhi, 2 Ca Com to ensure food hygiene and safety and good for health.