At the end of May, representatives of the Vietnam Culinary Culture Association, Vietnam Fish Sauce Association, Vietnam Seafood Association, Royal Chefs Association, Pho Van Cu Association, French-Vietnamese Culinary Association, Phu Quoc City Professional Chefs Association, along with leading Vietnamese and foreign chefs and artisans, had an interesting experience at the largest fish sauce factory system in Vietnam, Masan Phu Quoc. Also here, under the talented hands of culinary artisans, the flavor of fish sauce is further sublimated with dishes from 3 regions and interesting variations of European dishes.

Unique variations of fish sauce with Asian - European cuisine

In most Vietnamese dishes, fish sauce is an indispensable main spice. The diverse cuisine from the three regions mostly uses fish sauce to make the dish more flavorful.

During this tour, with skillful hands and culinary knowledge, artisans from the Vietnam Culinary Culture Association created special dishes using fish sauce. Many dishes are more flavorful thanks to Nam Ngu and Chin-su fish sauces such as: sticky rice with anchovies and shredded pork with fish sauce, doves wrapped in squash leaves steamed with fish sauce, crab salad with fish sauce, garlic, chili and peanuts...

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Foreign master chefs are also attracted by this special “national spirit” spice. European and fusion dishes also surprisingly use fish sauce as an extremely sophisticated highlight: from fresh squid with fish sauce mayo and Buddha’s hand peel, goose liver with fish sauce, to impressive fish sauce ice cream.

Vietnamese fish sauce has long impressed and been welcomed by international diners with its rich and unique flavor. Notably, Chin-su fish sauce products from the East Sea are being sold in parallel in the Vietnamese and Japanese markets, attracting the attention and love of international friends.

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Discover the "world of fish sauce" at the largest barrel house in Phu Quoc

Discovering the process of making delicious, familiar Chin-su and Nam Ngu fish sauce bottles in Vietnamese kitchens is an unforgettable experience. Visitors cannot help but be surprised when entering the "fish sauce world" of Masan Phu Quoc, "seeing, hearing, and tasting" every drop of fish sauce in the fermentation tanks at the largest system of large-scale factories in Vietnam.

Masan Phu Quoc factory is a place to produce fish sauce essence with an area of ​​over 22,000m2, with nearly 500 fermentation tanks with a capacity of over 10,000 tons of fish per year, operating with the criteria of paying attention and meticulousness to every ingredient and every detail.

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The first important step is to select fresh anchovies to be used for fermentation. The fish must be “scored” to pass 5 criteria such as: ratio of trash fish, type of fish, salinity, dryness, freshness. After that, these batches of anchovies are mixed by fishermen with pure salt according to the formula “3 fish 1 salt” right on the boat to keep the fish fresh and delicious. The salt used to marinate the fish is also selected from Ba Ria - Vung Tau, with pure saltiness, no astringent taste of calcium, bitter taste of potassium, to preserve the fish best.

Raw materials for making fermentation barrels are mainly from wood types such as: Lagerstroemia, Litsea, and Denden. These are flexible, fine-grained woods that can withstand salinity well, are non-toxic and have no strange smell.

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The barrel house inherits the traditional way of fermenting fish sauce and gradually develops, standardizes the fermentation process and applies management systems according to international standards such as: ISO, HCCP, Codex HACCP, EU Code... The fish sauce extracted from the wooden barrels will continue to undergo processing and bottling on a closed production line, producing bottles of rich fish sauce with the sweet aftertaste of fresh fish, a deep aroma and a deep brown, clear red color.

In addition to investing in science and technology, the Masan fish sauce factory system is also being operated and managed by a team of professional, dedicated staff - "loving every drop of fish sauce".

Mr. La Quoc Khanh - Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Culinary Culture Association shared: "During the process of visiting the barrel house and the production process at the factory, we were more impressed and confident when meeting and listening to the thinking and passion of the senior managers at Masan, not only for the development of the company but also for Vietnamese fish sauce and Vietnamese cuisine".

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Currently, Masan Phu Quoc factory has entered its 16th year of operation, owning a system of fish sauce fermentation tanks in 3 locations: Masan Lagi (Phan Thiet), Masan PQ (Phu Quoc) and Masan Hau Giang with an annual fish output of over 26,000 tons. In addition to owning its own fermentation tanks, Masan also cooperates with factories across the country to provide enough fish sauce to produce hundreds of millions of bottles of Chin-su and Nam Ngu fish sauce to serve consumers every year.

The tour of the largest fish sauce factory system in Vietnam has ended, but the story of Chin-su fish sauce journey continues and will continue “out to the ocean”, aiming to let consumers anywhere in the world enjoy the rich and complete flavor of Vietnamese fish sauce.

DL