This island off the southern Viet Nam coast is closer to Cambodia than to Viet Nam. Pronounced “FU WəK”
Phú Quóc island is famous for its fish sauce, black pepper, and now tourism. This last will probably cause the demise of the other two. But I would like to point out the Black Pepper of Phú Quóc.

RED BOAT is the producer of possibly the most famous of the Island’s fish sauce or Núoc Mám Nhi. I have written about it before when just available. It is a 40N fish Sauce. The 40N indicates the level of nitrogen in the sauce, hence the highest flavor and quality.

Now, Red Boat has started importing the Black Pepper of Phú Quóc. This is non-irradiated pepper, hence in its natural state and with the inimitable slight citrus character both to its scent and flavor. Obviously, It has the flavor of black pepper, but then even in black peppers there are differences. This is one of the rare black peppers. Very close to Cambodia’s Kampot pepper area, it may even be the same cultivar. But unless we use it, it will disappear.

Pepper is a vine and requires a great deal of hand labor to produce. Right now due to a shortage of market and labor, pepper farmers are allowing their vines to wither and die since they cannot get enough for their pepper to make ends meet. Here is where using the product helps preserve it.