US Michelin star chef thinks spaghetti tastes better with Vietnamese fish sauce

By Hoang Nguyen   May 7, 2019 | 07:20 pm PT
American chef David Chang, who runs a restaurant with two Michelin stars, cooks spaghetti with Vietnamese fish sauce and loves it.

The 41-year-old introduced the recipe on his Instagram account on May 4, adding the famous Phu Quoc Island fish sauce to his spaghetti.

"Yes, I put fish sauce in my spaghetti and it’s delicious," he says in the video.

It received many positive comments from his 1.1 million followers who are used to his bold and creative fusion of Asia and western foods.

Some shared their own experience of adding the Vietnamese sauce, a favorite among Asia foodies.

Some said adding fish sauce to spaghetti is not unheard of. One commented: "My mom does this every time. She puts the fish sauce into the spaghetti when she mixes them and that was the best dish ever."

Another said: "Actually the sauce used to be common in Italy. In the south, they used a sauce made from anchovy called ‘garum’. I think fish sauce has more Italian flavor than tomato."

Chang’s restaurant is in New York, and it has retained its two Michelin stars every year since 2009. He was also the producer and creator of a 2018 food series on Netflix called Ugly Delicious.

Fish sauce is considered the soul of Vietnam's cuisine, adding complexity to cooked dishes or poured into a tiny bowl and placed next to the main course as a robust flavor sidekick.

Fish sauce is so ubiquitous in the country that it has grown into a multi-million-dollar industry, valued at $501 million by market researcher Euromonitor in 2015. 

Phu Quoc, Vietnam's biggest island, in the southern province of Kien Giang, is well-known for its beautiful beaches and fish sauce.

David Chang puts fish sauce into his spaghetti. Video courtesy of David Chang.

 
 
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