How This Vietnamese Company Makes Its World Renowned Fish Sauce

Red Boat Fish makes Vietnamese fish sauce using two simple ingredients: anchovies and salt. Based in Phu Quoc, Vietnam, Red Boat uses traditional methods to make its world renowned condiment. “Fish sauce is the backbone of Vietnamese cuisine,” says Chuong Pham, founder and CEO of Red Boat Fish Sauce. “This island is known for producing the best fish sauce in the world.”

The process of making fish sauce starts in the ocean. A fishing boat, accompanied by three light boats, make its way out to the ocean to search for anchovies. Once a school of anchovies is spotted, the light boats are illuminated to attract the fish. From there, the team on the fishing boat is able to scoop up the fish in their nets, dump them onto the boat, and immediately salt them for preservation. “You gotta hand the credit to the fisherman,” Pham says.

Black anchovies from the Phu Quoc Sea have a higher protein content, and are heavily salted then fermented over a period of time. Red Boat ferments their fish using traditional methods in their 75-barrel warehouse. Each barrel can hold about 13 tons of salted anchovies. Led by production manager Anh Hong Tran Thi, the team in the barrel house regularly drains the water from the barrels, tests the salinity of the drained liquid, and adds new salt to the barrels.

The Red Boat team then tests the sauce. The sauce that has been fermenting for one month is still pretty clear in hue and too salty because the fish proteins have not broken down enough yet. The three-month old sauce is a bit darker in color and less salty but not quite ready. The year-old sauce has a rich amber color, is quite viscous, and has a sweet aftertaste—ideal characteristics for fish sauce.

Watch the latest Vendors episode to learn how Red Boat makes, bottles, and exports its world-famous fish sauce.