Diverse products for people to choose from

The festival, held at the old Tax Trade Center - 141 Nguyen Hue (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), has activities connecting Vietnamese cuisine with traditional fish sauce products and regional specialties. This is also an opportunity to promote Vietnamese fish sauce culinary culture to foreign diplomatic agencies and tourists.

The festival has a scale of over 150 booths with many activities such as displaying and exhibiting the fish sauce industry, honoring traditional fish sauce brands for community health, introducing dishes made from fish sauce...

Lễ hội nước mắm lần thứ nhất tại TP.HCM: Đa dạng sản phẩm để người dân lựa chọn- Ảnh 1. — Fish sauce festival has many different products on display.

Mr. Dang Thanh Tai (57 years old), owner of a traditional fish sauce stall from Phu Quoc, came to the festival with the hope of helping diners choose quality fish sauce.

He is the fourth generation of his family to make fish sauce, dating back to 1895. He graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering, but since 1990 he decided to stick with his family's business, continuing to invest and produce fish sauce. Not only approaching the Vietnamese market, his family also brought fish sauce abroad so that overseas Vietnamese and foreigners could easily enjoy it.

Lễ hội nước mắm lần thứ nhất tại TP.HCM: Đa dạng sản phẩm để người dân lựa chọn- Ảnh 2. — Mr. Tai introduces his family's fish sauce.

"The flavor and ingredients of fish sauce suit the taste of the majority of Vietnamese families and meet food safety and hygiene criteria. Nowadays, many people have changed their choice of fish sauce. They prefer fish sauce with a milder smell and saltiness in their daily meals. Therefore, we have also changed the flavor to meet consumer needs but ensure that there are no preservatives," said Mr. Tai.

Lễ hội nước mắm lần thứ nhất tại TP.HCM: Đa dạng sản phẩm để người dân lựa chọn- Ảnh 3. — Many types of fish sauce are on display.

Lễ hội nước mắm lần thứ nhất tại TP.HCM: Đa dạng sản phẩm để người dân lựa chọn- Ảnh 4. — Customers can try fish sauce before buying.

Ms. Le Thi Thuy Hang, representative of a fish sauce brand, said that at the fish sauce festival, the booth brought to diners a natural high-protein fish sauce from Phu Quoc. The company also recreated wooden barrels containing fish to help customers experience the closest to the fish sauce production process.

After catching fish in the sea, the fish will be marinated with salt to ensure the freshness of the fish, the fish sauce has a characteristic cockroach color. The fish sauce fermentation time lasts from 12 to 15 months. Customers can rely on the protein content to determine traditional or industrial fish sauce. In addition, traditional fish sauce will not have preservatives. Diners can rely on these two factors to choose suitable products.

Lễ hội nước mắm lần thứ nhất tại TP.HCM: Đa dạng sản phẩm để người dân lựa chọn- Ảnh 5. — The first fish sauce festival was held in Ho Chi Minh City.

"On the market, this spice comes from many regions, but Phu Quoc is a little different from other places because it uses anchovies. Due to natural conditions, anchovies will produce fish sauce with the highest protein content of up to 43 degrees of protein," Ms. Hang shared.

Ms. Huynh Thi Thuy Tram (43 years old, living in Tan Phu District) expressed that the criteria for choosing fish sauce for her family is traditional fish sauce with 30-40 degrees of protein, no additives or flavorings. She came to the program to consult many types of fish sauce from different regions.

Lễ hội nước mắm lần thứ nhất tại TP.HCM: Đa dạng sản phẩm để người dân lựa chọn- Ảnh 6. — Ms. Tram (right) and an acquaintance choose fish sauce.

"My hometown is in a coastal area, so since I was a child, I have been eating fish sauce in cooking and seasoning. In addition to the flavor, depending on each family's income, they will choose the appropriate type of fish sauce. Without fish sauce, the dish will not be delicious, family meals always have this spice," said Ms. Tram.

Ms. Mai Thi Hong (60 years old, in District 4) shared: "I bought a bottle of Phu Quoc fish sauce for 90,000 VND with 40 degrees of nitrogen. I usually choose fish sauce with high nitrogen content. When I came to the program, I saw many different types of fish sauce, so I went out and found more spices suitable for my family."