Phu quoc fish sauce Phu quoc fish sauce Phu Quoc fish sauce is a variety of fish sauce produced on Phu Quoc island in southwest Vietnam. Since 2001, the Industrial Property Department of the government of Vietnam has the name "Phu Quoc Fish Sauce" as a trademark, and only registered manufacturers are allowed to use the name in Vietnam. Such protection, however, does not extend worldwide. In 2012, Phu Quoc fish sauce was granted a European Union Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. Traditional Phi Quac fish sauce has been made solely out of fermented anchovies, salt, and water for over 200 years. The
Fish sauce "kecap" in Indonesia might be the precursor of ketchup. By 50–100 BC, demand for fish pastes in China had fallen drastically, with fermented bean products having become a major trade commodity. Fish sauce, however, developed massive popularity in Southeast Asia. Food scholars traditionally divide East Asia into two distinct condiment regions, separated by a bean-fish divide: Southeast Asia, mainly using fermented fish (Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia) and Northeast Asia, using mainly fermented beans (China, Korea, Japan). Fish sauce re-entered China in the 17th and 18th centuries, brought from Vietnam and Cambodia by Chinese traders up the coast of the southern provinces