Red Boat Fish makes Vietnamese fish sauce using two simple ingredients: anchovies and salt. Based on Vietnam's Phu Quoc island, Red Boat uses traditional methods to create the world-renowned condiment. “Fish sauce is the backbone of Vietnamese cuisine,” says Truong Pham, founder and CEO of Red Boat Fish Sauce. “The island is known for producing the best fish sauce in the world.”
The fish sauce production process begins at sea, where a fishing boat accompanied by three light boats heads out to sea to search for anchovies. When they find a school of anchovies, the light boats turn on their lights to lure the fish in. From there, the team on the fishing boat scoops up the fish with nets and tosses them on board, where they are quickly salted for preservation. “The fishermen deserve credit,” says Pham.
Black anchovies from Phu Quoc waters have a high protein content and high salt content, and are fermented for a period of time. Red Boat ferments the fish the traditional way in a 75-barrel warehouse, each of which holds around 13 tons of salted anchovies. Led by production manager Anh Hong Tran Thi, the team in the barrel warehouse regularly drains the water from the barrels, tests the salt concentration of the drained liquid, and adds new salt to the barrels.
The Red Boat team then tests the sauce. After one month, the sauce is still quite clear in color and too salty, because the fish proteins have not yet fully broken down. After three months, the sauce is a bit darker in color and less salty, but still not finished. After one year, the sauce is a deep amber color, quite viscous, and has a sweet aftertaste, the ideal characteristics of a fish sauce.
Watch the latest Vendors episode to learn how Red Boat produces, bottles, and exports their world-famous fish sauce.
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