Ethnic Fermented Foods and Beverages of Vietnam

Abstract

Vietnam has long been an agricultural country with rice cultivation and fishery as the most important economic sectors. Traditional fermentation in Vietnam has centuries of history and means to preserve the agricultural and fishery products and to diversify foods and culinary ingredients. This chapter presents an overview of the major types of traditional Vietnamese fermentation, such as alcohol production from rice and other starch-rich materials, production of soy sauce by enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation of glutinous rice and soybean, production of fish sauce by a complex of hydrolytic and fermentative reactions in the presence of high salt concentration, and lactic acid fermentation of meat, shrimp, and vegetables. In many ways, traditional fermentation in Vietnam is similar to that of neighboring Southeast Asian countries. Except for alcohol production, most of the fermentation processes are spontaneous and caused by microorganisms present in the substrates or from surrounding environments. Food production by means of traditional fermentation still relies predominantly on small-scale cottage industry and often in unhygienic conditions. Despite the success of the industrialization process in food industry, traditional fermentation demonstrates a tenacious and conservative vitality. With 54 ethnic groups, each with own language and culture tradition, the diversity of traditional fermentation in Vietnam is immense. Understanding of the traditional fermentation processes is needed in order to preserve and to improve the technologies and traditions.