Wow, great response on Red Boat fish sauce. I'll have to run a half price brethren special on our
website next month. I have spent the last six months with my business Partner Cuong Pham working on launching Red Boat fish sauce and it has become a labor of love. If you all have been wondering where I have been, I have been across Asia and the States building our factory and brand.
Red is the first authentic Vietnamese fish sauce to make it to these shores since the 1970s when the Vietnam war resulted in a trade embargo causing the Chinese and Thais to start making highly processed fish sauce to fill the gap. All fish sauces in the States today with exception of Thai Kitchen, are made with third and fourth pressing of anchovies with water, MSG, hydrolyzed wheat proteins and sugar added for flavor.
To make Red Boat we use an artisanal process that is 200 years old. We work with local fisherman in Phu Quoc Island Vietnam. Wild caught anchovies caught at specific times of year are salted with local sea salt minutes after leaving the waters off the island. We then place them in 10 foot high hand made tropical wood barrels that hold 14,000 lbs of fish, and slow ferment them at ambient tropical temperatures and humidity for 12-16 months. We then do barrel tastings, open the tap on the best barrels, blend, filter and bottle. It is extra-virgin, with Zero water, additives, sugar, or preservatives. Red Boat has more than double the naturally fermented protein content of the processed versions and it shows in umami levels. If you have ever heard of umami, or savoriness, this stuff is off the charts in it!
SouthEast Asian cuisine, especially Vietnamese cuisine is hot right now and educated food folk like the Brethren are looking more and more to exotic ingredients to boost flavor profiles of their foods. I think you guys will be blown away by this sauce. I'll post again when I get a promotional code going for Brethren and also plan to do a recipe contest. Because of the overwhelming demand for free samples I'm upping it to the first 10 PMs...
