Vietnamese Fish Sauce – It stinks but tastes awesome

In Vietnamese culinary world, nước chấm – dipping sauce – is a cultural symbol, a social bond, and one that can make or break a dish.

There is a myriad of Vietnamese sauces. Trying to tell which sauce is which among the vast variety is not much different from navigating a labyrinth. A few basics include shrimp paste, anchovy paste, and of course, the infamous fish sauce.

The fish sauce itself has spawned a considerable number of sauce variations, acting as the base. Each region has sprinkled its own flair into the standard fish sauce to pair it with the local specialties. The North likes its sauce rich and redolent of lemongrass and calamondin. The Southerners stick with homely ingredients like gingers, minced garlic, and chopped chilies. The Central Vietnam way of finessing fish sauce includes boiling it with shrimp and finishing up with as much chilly as conceivable. Meanwhile, fish sauce in West Vietnam is renowned for its godsent sweet and sour mix. Sometimes, Vietnamese people also have fun with all sorts of vegetables to spice things up. People from the South usually go with pickled carrots and daikons, while those from the North enjoy a good handful of sliced green papayas.

Contrary to popular belief, fish sauce is not a modern invention, but in fact, has made its mark for quite some time. According to the Complete Annals of Đại Việt, Vietnamese people had already known how to produce and incorporate fish sauce into their nutritious diet by 997 at the latest. A historical record from the Nguyen Dynasty even noted fish sauce as a replacement for usual capitation tax to the imperial court. This goes to show what a highly-regarded delicacy it was and the role it played and still does until this day, in social functions.

It is hardly a Vietnamese dining table without a small bowl of fish sauce in the center. There are multiple courses and individual portions but all use that exact same fish sauce. In a way, it is a measurement of one’s table mannerism. Worry not though, as long as you are courteous and do not spill the sauce all over the table, or worse, on another person, then the dining experience should be a fun and scrumptious one.

Admittedly, fish sauce has quite a pungent taste, not least to people who have not been familiar with it since birth. However, once acquainted with the sauce, few can resist its oddly comforting charm. Evidence: Each day, an average Vietnamese person consumes at least 10 drops of fish sauce. That is a lot.