To celebrate Red Boat Fish Sauce’s 10-year anniversary, founder Cuong Pham will debut his first ever cookbook on October 26th. The Red Boat Fish Sauce Cookbook: Beloved Recipes from the Family Behind the Purest Fish Sauce is a collection of family recipes paying homage to Pham’s mother and a reflection on the 10 years of growth and Cuong’s journey to creating the purest fish sauce on earth.
“My mother was the driving force behind why I started Red Boat,” shares Pham. “She was a phenomenal cook and I can’t wait to showcase her recipes in this cookbook. I hope our fans and Red Boat community enjoy making some of our favorite classics as well as newer dishes that were developed by our R&D Chef Diep Tran.”
The Red Boat Cookbook details Pham’s year-long journey to America from Vietnam and his quest to create a premium fish sauce brand based on three simple ingredients: anchovy, sea salt, and time. Readers will get a behind-the-scenes look of Pham’s Phú Quốc Barrelhouse and learn everything about the process of transforming anchovies and sea salt into Red Boat’s iconic fish sauce. The cookbook shares a bevy of family stories and cherished recipes, including favorites likes Bún Chà, Sugarcane Shrimp, Chicken Wings and Pork Roast to newer dishes like Ginger-Cilantro Fried Chicken and Crab Rolls that showcase Red Boat’s depth and versatility for those new to the fish sauce scene.
“This cookbook explores the incredible range of fish sauce - whether it be a dipping sauce for egg rolls or tucked into pasta sauces, marinades, or even a simple spread for burgers ,” shares R&D Chef Diep Tran. “We have over 100 recipes, including some of Cuong’s most cherished family recipes. This book encompasses a true American story and we are so excited to share it with the world and our fish sauce-loving community.”
To promote the release, Red Boat will host a series of virtual events ranging from cooking demos to Q&As as well as partner with a number local restaurants and independent bookstores nationwide to bring a taste Phú Quốc to your home. The Red Boat Fish Sauce Cookbook: Beloved Recipes from the Family Behind the Purest Fish Sauce is co-written with R&D Chef Diep Tran and cookbook author Tien Nguyen (Roy Choi’s L.A. Son, Adam Fleischman’s Flavor Bombs). To pre-order online visit BookShop, BAM, Target, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, and Amazon.
About Red Boat
Ever since moving to the United States, Cuong Pham was hungry to recreate the tastes and smells of his childhood in Saigon. But not even the vibrant Asian markets of San Francisco offered the intensely fragrant first-press fish sauce, nước mắm nhi, that Cuong remembered from Vietnam. In 2006, Cuong decided that if he couldn't find it, he would make it — and started Red Boat Fish Sauce. Returning to Vietnam, Cuong expanded a small, family-run facility on the island of Phú Quốc. With its clear waters and traditional fishing communities, Phú Quốc has long been renowned for producing the world's greatest fish sauces. Cuong partnered with expert fishermen and used a centuries-old fermentation tradition. Today, the Red Boat brand is stronger than ever. In an era where transparency, traceability, and sustainability reign supreme, Red Boat is just as committed to quality ingredients and its time-honored fermentation tradition as the day it was founded. That means no additives, no preservatives, and no flavor enhancers. Just the purest fish sauce on earth.
