Fish sauce is a popular condiment in Vietnam today. There are many types of fish sauce in the market, traditional, industrial, etc. Depending on the tastes and preferences of each person, each family has different choices. Because of that, it is difficult to say which type of fish sauce is better than another and it is also difficult to confirm which is the best fish sauce in Vietnam today.
In this article, we only focus on traditional fish sauce, and industrial fish sauce (industrial dipping sauce) will not have a comparison here.
In Vietnam today, there are many regions producing traditional fish sauce such as Sa Chau Nam Dinh fish sauce, Hai Thinh Nam Dinh fish sauce, Thai Binh fish sauce, … to the South, there are fish sauces in Phan Thiet, Nha Trang. Trang and especially Phu Quoc fish sauce.
These fish-making craft villages are mainly brewed from fish, the fish sauce products are made from fish and salt, which can be in crockery jars, concrete tanks or in wooden crates.
However, fish living in different seas will produce different fish sauce products, along with the different brewing methods in each region. Therefore, it will produce traditional fish sauce with its own unique flavor of each region.
Fish sauce made from anchovies in the waters of Phu Quoc and neighboring provinces has a brown color and medium aroma (Not as strong and smells like Northern fish sauce). Also made from anchovies, but fish sauce in the central seas and neighboring provinces has a straw yellow color and a strong, very clear scent.
Because of these reasons, if anyone is familiar with any region, it will be difficult to say that other regions are better. Each person’s feeling of fish sauce is different, each person’s taste is different, so each person will have their own choice “Which is the best fish sauce in Vietnam”.
As for me, Phu Quoc Fish Sauce is the best, and now I eat the most is Khai Hoan Phu Quoc Fish Sauce. This barrel house now has agents in North, Central and South; Products are available in the chain of supermarkets, chains of clean food stores. There is a representative office of the North in Hanoi, at address 512 – Xa Dan Street – Dong Da – Hanoi.
