Viet World Kitchen

Why Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Tastes Good

Vietnamese food is nothing without the imprint of fish sauce (nuoc mam). The best Vietnamese fish sauce is delicately flavored and full of  umami goodness. Believe it or not, good fish sauce can be enjoyed straight. Seriously.

You can make fish sauce from various kind of aquatic animals (shrimp, mackerel, or squid, for example). However, the best Vietnamese fish sauce comes from the island of Phu Quoc, where the waters are full of a particular kind of anchovy called ca com. I was there in 2007 and visited a number of the fish sauce factories.

At first, I didn't think that Phu Quoc fish sauce could be great. But I was wrong. I visited the source, spoke to the artisanal producers, and then tasted it. Yowza, it was good.

It's hard to get nuoc mam from Phu Quoc abroad, though the Viet Huong (3 Crabs) brand combines Phu Quoc fish sauce with Thai fish sauce. Viet Huong has a whole line of fish sauce that you should check out.

But for 100% Phu Quoc fish sauce, you have to look outside of the United States. Find Knorr brand of fish sauce in Canada and Asia. Or, try to smuggle fish sauce into the States like Bobby Chinn did for me.

Chinese-Vietnamese food writer Julie Wan went in search of the true Phu Quoc fish sauce for herself. She interviewed producers in Vietnam and last week, we chatted about the availability of the real deal outside of the motherland. Julie's findings came out today in a Washington Post article. Her piece offers rich details on how fish sauce is made in Phu Quoc:

• "The Best of Vietnamese Fish Sauce Comes from Phu Quoc" - by Julie Wan (Washington Post, 4/21/10)

If you're a food geek or freak like I am, you'll find Julie's story full of insights!

Related links:

• Fish Sauce Buying Guide
• Thai Megachef vs. Phu Quoc fish sauce: Which is better?
• Viet Huong (3 Crabs) Fish Sauce Tasting
  

Gift from Bobby Chinn: Smuggled Phu Quoc Fish Sauce

  

I walked away from the Culinary Institute of America's 2009 World of Flavors conference last Saturday with many great things – cooking tips, dining trends, and a bottle of rare fish sauce from Phu Quoc island in Vietnam. Chef/restaurateur/TV show host Bobby Chinn smuggled the fish sauce into the country, carrying it with him as he filmed his travel series in several locations, including Turkey and Morocco. The last time I saw Bobby was in 2007 in New York where we were both on an Asia Society panel about the evolution of Vietnamese food traditions. He’d brought a bottle of Phu Quoc fish sauce for me then but we missed coordinating the handoff. I’ve regretted ever since.

Despite what you may think of Bobby, he’s a very kind person (okay, a little snarky too but in a good way). He was one of the first people I saw last Thursday at the conference and he greeted me with a big hug and peck on the cheek. We shared a bit of backstage nervousness before we had to do our public performance (he had much more responsibility than I), and I made sure to catch Bobby at his various sessions.

On Friday afternoon, he surprised me and the crowd at a live fire celebration of pork. He prepared grilled bun cha pork patties with round rice noodles and herbs. For his nuoc cham dipping sauce – he whipped out a La Vie plastic water bottle full of fish sauce. “This is the best fish sauce in the world,” he said. “It’s from Phu Quoc, Vietnam and the Vietnamese have got to get smart about exporting their good fish sauce. You can’t get this here. Andrea, the leftover is yours to take since you didn’t get the bottle I brought to New York!”

Megachef: Premium Fish Sauce You Have Not Heard of – Yet

It’s not hard for anyone to figure this out about me: I love fish sauce. The salty-sweet, umami-laden condiment occupies the soul of and serves as the ballast for countless Vietnamese dishes. I’ve test tasted various brands of fish sauce (nuoc mam in Vietnamese, nam pla in Thai) and for years settled on Vietnamese-style fish sauces, such as those produced by the Viet Huong company that have a lighter flavor than Thai or Filipino-style fish sauces. Last week in Sydney, Australia, I attended a launch event for Thai-produced Megachef fish sauce, and it made me reconsider my options for nuoc mam.

It was a swank party, with wine flowing and lovely passed hors d’oeuvre prepared from recipes in David Thompson’s new book, Thai Street Food. (The gorgeous oversize book won’t be released in the U.S. until October 2010 though I managed to get a copy. Sorry.) Thompson is one of the world’s leading experts on Thai cooking and I use his work, Thai Food, as a reference book all the time. I have immense respect for Thompson, who has a dry wit that charms. The chef behind Michelin-starred Nahm restaurant in London, he is not a particularly commercial man but he has decided to become an ambassador (spokesperson) for Megachef fish sauce. His picture is on the tag around each bottle. Thompson’s endorsement piqued my interest and attracted me to the event.

Viet Huong (3 Crabs) Fish Sauce Tasting

Fish sauce (nuoc mam) is the most important seasoning in Vietnamese cooking. Like shrimp sauce (mam tom), fish sauce is a stealth ingredient used by Vietnamese cooks to impart savory depth and oomph. But despite fish sauce’s role, it can be confusing to select a bottle at the Asian market. For years, my go-to fish sauce brand has been 3 Crabs by Viet Huong Fish Sauce Company. But there have been plenty of impostors to get in the way of making the right choice. My shopping has been cluttered with 2 Crabs, 4 Crabs and other knockoff labels and bottles. At a Vietnamese market where the fish sauce selection can be overwhelming, I’m often standing in the fish sauce aisle studying and deciphering the multitude of labels.

One day I realized that the Phu Quoc brand of fish sauce was also made by Viet Huong Fish Sauce Company. Then a visitor to this site said that he preferred 1 Crab brand over 3 Crabs brand as the former is less salty. There's a 1 crab brand too? When I last shopped at the Shun Fat (Thuan Phat) Westminster Superstore market in Orange County, I noticed a 5 Crabs brand. What’s with all the crabbiness and the Phu Quoc brand?

How to Buy Fish Sauce: A guide

If you want to stock your kitchen with the bare minimum for preparing Vietnamese food, start with good quality fish sauce (nuoc mam). How do you judge fish sauce?  Look for a light amber color and the words nhi or thuong hang on the label.

These terms indicate that the condiment came from the first extraction of liquid from the fermented fish, and is of the highest quality. Grades of fish sauces are similar to that of olive oils.  That is, extra virgin olive oil is more flavorful and costlier than virgin olive oil.  This same rule applies to judging different fish sauces.

Also keep in mind that fish sauce is also used in Thai and Filipino cooking, where it tends to be saltier and heavier in flavor.  So, even though Thailand produces most of the fish sauce sold in the U.S., you need to make sure that the condiment you’re buying is made in the ‘Vietnamese’ style.  How to do this?  Look for Vietnamese lettering alongside the Thai script. 

Fish Sauce Taste Off

When I was in Singapore last month, food expert Christopher Tan (foodfella.com) and I had a long conversation about different kinds of fish sauces. I'd tasted it in a number of dishes in Singapore and was surprised to see it so present in the food. Yes, the beloved Viet condiment is used in many cuisines, and it's just not in that of Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.  I mentioned that Knorr has been buying and bottling tons of nuoc mam fish sauce from Phu Quoc island off the coast of Vietnam -- where the best fish sauce is made. (Okay, I'm biased!) Chris, who has a well-tuned palate and amazing passion for food, said he was preparing for a fish sauce tasting in Singapore and would get some.

In preparation for the event, Chris asked me to decipher this fish sauce label from a Knorr bottle. The label basically touts it's purity and well-balanced flavors -- a lot like a fine wine. It also says to users that it's just for dipping sauces and table uses. It's too good to be cooked with. The price is rather low -- 12,000 Vietnamese Dong (75 cents), which is probably for one of the small tableside-sized bottles. Click on the thumbnail image to view a larger one.

So how did the Vietnamese fish sauce stand up the others? Chris just sent these remarks and  results:

Pho in a Box

Here's a new one -- a pho kit sold at Tan Son Nhat airport. It all comes in a box and makes 2 bowls. The box contains:

Dried noodles - rice, salt, sugar, MSG
Stewed beef pack - pre-cooked beef with palm oil, ginger, shallot and salt
Soup base pack - salt, sugar, MSG, disodium 5-guanylate, disodium 5-isoninate, caramel
Vegetable pack - green onion, eryngium (culantro)
Chile sauce pack - chile, modified cornstarch, salt, sugar, citric acid

Directions: Put content into bowl and add 600 ml of boiling water. Ready to serve between 3-5 minutes.

The cost is 6 USD. "Who buys it?" I asked the young saleswomen. Many Japanese visitors, they just love pho. Is it sold outside of the airport? Not to the young women's knowledge.

"I Love Pho" exhibit in Australia

Cuong Le of the Casula Powerhouse Project (an arts performance space in Australia) has curated a wonderful traveling multimedia exhibit on pho noodle soup -- the national food of Vietnam. If you're in Footscray, Australia this month, you're in for a treat because I Love Pho will be there:

Footscray Community Arts Center                          
Gabriel Gallery
Friday 22 February – Thursday 10 April
                          Official Launch Sunday 2 March, 3pm
                          9.30am – 5pm (Closed Mondays)
FREE