Pungent pleasure: fish sauce secrets in Vietnam

“The other, more traditional method,” our guide explained, “is to layer fish sauce and salt in jars under the sun and wait for three months while natural hydrolysis occurs.”

This method has been used by fishing families in Binh Thuan Province for generations. Most don’t offer tours, but just mentioning my interest at a beachfront cafe was enough to secure an invitation to the nuoc mam shop belonging to the uncle of a staff member. After a short motorbike ride, I found myself in a shed along the main stretch of Mui Ne beach.

Under the shade of a corrugated iron roof fringed by coconut trees, a girl squatted over a collection of bowls . Catching sight of us, she waved cheerily and gestured toward the yard out back, where immense clay jars were arranged in three haphazard rows under the midday sun. Some were topped with bamboo lids, some capped with recycled rubber tires, and all were elevated off the ground on chunks of brick. Each jar contained a mixture of rotting, fermenting fish that could singe nose hair at 100 paces.

“It’s very important to keep the temperature constantly high,” explained my waitress-cum-tour guide Nhu. “A higher temperature means better fish sauce. After a few months, you draw the nuoc mam off and filter it. Each of these jars has a capacity of 400 liters [106 gallons], and the first tapping will give 100 liters [26 gallons] of premium nuoc mam.”

I decided to go in search of some of Phan Thiet’s more pleasurable aromas. About 22 miles south of the FISACO factory, I found the perfect restorative for my sense of smell. At Princess d’Annam Resort, the villas sit among sprawling gardens designed by Alan Carle, who also is responsible for the Ginger Garden at the Singapore Botanic Gardens

I headed for the resort’s two-story, U-shaped spa, which is set right on the oceanfront. The spa manager suggested I enjoy a hot herbal jacuzzi to help soak away the stink of my day at the factory, and within minutes I was sinking beneath hot waters that bubbled with the aroma of ginger and lemon grass. Next came a deliciously cooling peppermint body scrub that blended leaves just plucked from the resort’s herb gardens. Then I enjoyed a sweet mango body wrap.

My day had taken my nose from one extreme to the other, and left me feeling as though I had truly experienced the essence of Phan Thiet. How often can you say that after a single day’s exploration of a new destination?

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