Raising the bar of Phan Thiet fish sauce

In recent days, the information that the Vietnam Fish Sauce Association will coordinate with the Vietnam Culinary Culture Association to research and develop a dossier to submit to the Government to recognize the fish sauce making profession as an intangible cultural heritage of Vietnam has made those who have been attached to the traditional fish sauce making profession for a long time in Binh Thuan in particular and the whole country in general happy. Because Vietnamese fish sauce has a long history with unique cultural values.

Fragrant, delicious every drop

It can be said that fish sauce has become the “national spirit” of Vietnamese people because in the meals of Vietnamese families or in restaurants and eateries from North to South, there is always a bowl of fish sauce. Many people even have to bring a small bottle of fish sauce when traveling to use with their meals as a habit.

With a history of more than 300 years, the fish sauce making profession in Phan Thiet has become a traditional profession. When it comes to Binh Thuan fish sauce, not only people in the country but also foreigners know its special delicious and rich flavor. Thanks to the development of the fish sauce making industry, the life of fishermen in Binh Thuan has gradually improved in recent years. Although it looks simple, because it does not require sophisticated machinery, just fish and salt, but to produce drops of delicious fish sauce, it requires the craftsman to have a lot of experience as well as his own secret.

A traditional fish sauce production facility using wooden barrels.

Phan Thiet fish sauce is mainly made from anchovies. There are many types of anchovies such as pepper-striped anchovies, charcoal anchovies, red anchovies, dim anchovies, chalk-striped anchovies, chalk-striped anchovies, flat anchovies... but the most delicious are charcoal anchovies and pepper-striped anchovies. Anchovies appear in large numbers from April to August of the lunar calendar, which is also the time when tents and fish sauce production facilities import raw materials for fermentation. However, many long-time fish sauce makers say that the quality of fish sauce also depends on the time of fishing, especially since fish caught in August are often fatter and tastier, so the fish sauce produced is also fragrant and has the highest protein content. The anchovies are carefully selected, then mixed with salt in a ratio of 3 fish to 1 salt. Next, the fish sauce makers will ferment the fish sauce in jars and dry it outdoors. Perhaps it is thanks to the blazing sun of Phan that has brought about the delicious, rich flavor of Phan Thiet fish sauce, which has been famous for hundreds of years.

Thanks to the bright sunshine, the delicious, rich flavor of Phan Thiet fish sauce has been famous for hundreds of years.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Dung - Director of Ba Hai Fish Sauce Company Limited (Phu Hai Ward) said: “After a fermentation period of 9 months to 1 year with many different stages, the mature fish sauce will be clear with a color from straw yellow to reddish brown (depending on each batch of fish) and will no longer have a fishy smell but a characteristic aroma. The first water drawn from the barrel is called "nhị" fish sauce - completely from hydrolyzed fish bodies. After drawing the first water, people pour water in to draw the second water called "ngang" fish sauce. Each time the water is drawn, the protein content decreases, so to have a product with a uniform protein content to sell on the market, people have to mix fish sauces with different protein content. This is a popular method of making fish sauce in Phan Thiet, especially in traditional fish sauce making establishments”.

Traditional fish sauce of Phan Thiet.

After the ups and downs…

Many people say that the fish sauce market is a “gold mine” if exploited in the right direction. However, in reality, traditional fish sauce establishments and villages are currently quite small and fragmented, without a systematic investment strategy for large-scale production and market domination. They are mainly self-sufficient establishments producing traditional products in households, gradually developing into larger production workshops.

Inheriting the brand and market, they maintain and develop the family's traditional profession.

Mr. Truong Quang Hien - Chairman of Phan Thiet Fish Sauce Association said: After many ups and downs, especially the competition of the "big guys" of industrial fish sauce, the traditional fish sauce making profession in Phan Thiet has gradually faded away, and traditional fish sauce processing facilities are now gradually decreasing. Some facilities only focus on processing for other businesses, or selling raw fish sauce, leading to the Phan Thiet fish sauce brand gradually disappearing from the market. Phan Thiet City currently has more than 100 traditional fish sauce processing facilities, of which the Phan Thiet Fish Sauce Association has 44 members with an average production scale of about 20,000 tons, equivalent to 20 million liters/year. However, there are also a few facilities from the inheritance of brand, market, family tradition, they maintain and develop more but not too strongly. They have quite methodical plans and strategies but the scale is still small, lacking large investment in production and market development.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Dung - Director of Ba Hai Fish Sauce Company Limited shared.

Mr. Dung added: “My family has a tradition of producing fish sauce for more than 50 years, but mainly on a small scale. Since 2003, following my mother's career, I took over the production workshop and gradually developed and expanded the market. After much effort, Ba Hai fish sauce products have been recognized as meeting 4-star OCOP standards and are trusted by many people. However, in order for Phan Thiet fish sauce to go further, production facilities need more support from relevant departments and agencies in terms of capital, legal corridors, trade promotion, production lines, etc. so that the bottles of fish sauce that reach consumers are "full of Phan Thiet flavor".

There are many Phan Thiet fish sauce brands that have become familiar to consumers.

In recent years, many Phan Thiet fish sauce brands have become familiar to consumers nationwide and have been recognized as typical rural industrial products. However, the export of fish sauce is still very modest. Explaining the reason, many establishments said: The domestic market still does not have enough supply, prices are stable, so businesses are not really interested in exporting fish sauce to foreign countries with many strict procedures and criteria. Therefore, in the coming time, the Department of Industry and Trade will focus on promoting and supporting the export of fish sauce to potential markets, easy to penetrate such as Laos, Cambodia, followed by markets with a large number of overseas Vietnamese living.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Dang, Chairman of the Vietnam Fish Sauce Association, once said that Vietnam has 6 famous fish sauce producing regions: Cat Hai (Hai Phong), Ba Lang (Thanh Hoa), Da Nang, Nha Trang, Phan Thiet, Phu Quoc with dozens of brands. The market potential is huge, in addition to 100 million people in the country, there are millions of Vietnamese people abroad and more and more foreign consumers are interested in Vietnamese fish sauce.

Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/nang-tam-nuoc-mam-phan-thiet-114094.html