5 famous fish sauce villages in Vietnam

For a long time ago, the Vietnamese people knew how to brew fish with salt to create a typical delicious spice in every meal in Vietnam, which is fish sauce.

Therefore, along the sea from the North to the South, there are always villages of making Vietnamese fish sauce for a long time.

When mentioning the famous fish-sauce villages in Vietnam, the following 5 names cannot be ignored.

 1. Cat Hai fish sauce in Hai Phong

cat hai fish sauce
Making and selling the fish sauce in Cat Hai Village. @hanoi_life

Hai Phong is a city owning a wide sea area, a large fishing ground, and a rich range of fish and shrimp species, providing a fresh and stable source of raw materials for the production of high-quality fish sauce.

With a history of hundreds of years of craft villages, people here still keep the traditional methods of making fish sauce inherited from their ancestors: “sun-drying, fishing on islands”. It means they dry fishes in the sun carefully, and let them receive sea breezes for months.

With typical skills, the locals can create a special type of fish sauce that has a dark reddish-brown color, prominent aroma, salty tip but sweet aftertaste.

2. Ba Lang fish sauce in Thanh Hoa

ba lang fish sauce
Displaying the fish sauce of Ba Lang village in Thanh Hoa Province. Photo: nuocmambalang.vn

With the advantage of abundant raw materials of Vietnamese fishes and salt, busy trade, hundreds of people in Ba Lang have attached to making fish sauce.

The fish sauce here is brewed in the same method of compression as the Southern barrel of fish sauce, commonly used anchovies. It is because anchovies give the great taste of the fish sauce.

Ba Lang fish sauce is characterized by a sweet, fishy taste, the color of brown-yellow, the longer you eat.

Typically, the longer the fish sauce has preserved, the better taste is. So, the sauce is a specialty that Thanh Hoa people are proud of.

 3. Quynh Luu fish sauce in Nghe An

quynh luu fish sauce
The bottles of fish sauce are produced from Quynh Luu Village in Nghe An Province. Photo: Internet

 Quynh Luu belonging to Nghe An Province is famous for making the most famous fish sauce in the Central region. Although the land is sunny and windy all year round, the sea is rich in fresh fishes and brings favorable conditions for the locals to produce the fish sauce.

Quynh Luu people remain loyal to their father’s making-sauce recipe, using the perfect ratio of fish and salt.

They have brewed the fishes with salt in jars for 18 – 24 months, then filter to get pure drops of fish sauce.

With the traditional method of Quynh Luu, the fish sauce here has rich protein and a strong taste, different from the sauce in any other locality.

The famous fish sauce of Quynh Luu village is famous from near and far, causing memory not only for locals but also for visitors who once indulged in it.

 4. Phan Thiet fish sauce in Binh Thuan

phan thiet fish sauce
One produce of Phan Thiet fish-sauce village. Photo: @phanthietht

Phan Thiet has not only beautiful scenery but also is famous for the four directions covered by the sauce village with a history of hundreds of years.

Phan Thiet fish sauce is mainly made from anchovies. Although there are different types of anchovies, including striped anchovies,  red or back anchovies…, the most delicious one is black anchovies.

The fresh fishes will then be marinated with salt, composted in a jar, and exposed to the sun for 12 months.

Phan Thiet people have their own technique of making fish sauce with great taste. So, the fish sauce of Phan Thiet brand has been well-known all over Vietnam, loved by a lot of Vietnamese diners.

5. Phu Quoc fish sauce in Kien Giang

Phu Quoc Fish Sauce
A place to make fish sauce in Phu Quoc Island. @koganei_kr

The beautiful Phu Quoc Island is famous for its pungent pepper and also aromatic fish sauce.

The local people in Phu Quoc call the factory which makes fish sauce Nha Thung (barrel houses). Each Nha Thung has a secret of making its own sauce, creating a sweet, seductive flavor, stimulating the taste.

The typical taste can not be found in any other fish sauce, worthy of a 200-year-old fish-sauce village.


Each village with different recipes and weather conditions gives a very unique taste of the local fish sauce.

And, the traditional fish sauce still has a strong vitality thanks to preserving typical methods and developing it in these fish-sauce villages.

Please fill out the form to contact us for any requests! Or Whatsapp +84 934 889 667 to our phone! Thank you!

    captcha

    About the author

    The editorial staff of Vietnamdrive is a team of travel experts managed by Mr. Thom who has worked in tourism for 14 years. Trusted by thousands of tourists from all over the world.