At the opening ceremony of the 1st Ho Chi Minh City Fish Sauce Festival 2024 organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Food Association (FFA) in collaboration with the Vietnam Traditional Fish Sauce Association, the organizers invited visitors to try "fish sauce coffee". This unique dish quickly spread on social networks, arousing the curiosity of many users.
The drink makes many people curious but many are hesitant to try it because of the strange combination of fish sauce and coffee. However, some people are excited to try the whole cup of new coffee and commented that the product has a characteristic salty, fragrant, and fatty taste.
After the success of salt coffee, businesses are experimenting with "fish sauce coffee" that has consumers amazed.
"Coffee and fish sauce are both the national soul and quintessence of Vietnam, so I really want everyone to work together to preserve and promote Vietnamese cuisine" - Ms. Tran Thi Hong Loan, Director of Nam Phuong Tourism and Trade Promotion Company Limited, the unit coordinating the implementation of the first Ho Chi Minh City Fish Sauce Festival shared.
Two things that seem unrelated to each other when fish sauce is often used as a spice, dipping sauce, coffee is a drink to sip, but when combined, it surprises many people.
According to the person who made the fish sauce coffee at the first Ho Chi Minh City Fish Sauce Festival, culinary artist Ho Dac Thieu Anh was the one who told her about this unique drink, but she had to go through many experiments to get a satisfactory recipe. Regarding the ingredients, Ms. Loan said they must be pure fish sauce from the Central region and pure coffee from major Vietnamese brands.
Accordingly, the way to make "fish sauce coffee" is to use traditional fish sauce without added additives or flavor enhancers, simmered over fire like the way to make kho quet so that the fish sauce crystallizes on the surface.
Fish sauce coffee honors two typical Vietnamese products: traditional fish sauce and coffee.
Then, use this crystallized salt to mix with coffee, the amount of salt from fish sauce/cup of coffee and add a little sugar to balance the taste. This drink can be served hot or add ice to use. When drinking, use a straw to sip the foam on the surface to feel the characteristic flavor, then stir well to enjoy the whole thing.
Many people are skeptical about the flavor when combining these two ingredients together.
Fish sauce coffee is a hot topic on social media right now. Many people have asked about the taste for those who have tried it and many have suggested the more unique "fish sauce coffee" or "shrimp sauce coffee".
Although fish sauce coffee is causing a stir on social media, many people believe that this is not a completely new creation. Fish sauce used to appear in the way Hanoians made coffee in the past. At that time, there was a shop that used bamboo chopsticks, dipped them in a bottle of fish sauce, and then stirred the chopsticks into the coffee cups they brought to customers. This made the coffee taste salty with a light aroma. This method has existed for decades, but is rarely used now.
