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Fermentation Atlas

Sauces and condiments from Vietnam

Xì dầu / nước tương (Vietnam)nước tương

Vietnamese soy sauce. Brewed nước tương follows the soy sauce method that Codex describes, cooked soybeans and grain grown with Aspergillus koji mould, then fermented in salt water and pressed; some products are instead made with acid-hydrolysed soy protein or blends of the two. The name xì dầu comes from Chinese, and the sauce is a staple of Vietnamese vegetarian cooking. Made in 5 steps over 3 months – 3.1 months. The longest step, ferment and age the mash, takes at least 3 months (Codex Alimentarius Commission 2008) and runs at up to 40 °C (Codex Alimentarius Commission 2008). Salt is 10 % (Khảo sát một số yếu tố ảnh hưởng đến quy trìn…). Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus sojae and Salt-tolerant lactic acid bacteria and yeasts in the brine stage do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 3 monthsReported[codex-3mcpd]Ferment and age the mash
Temperatureup to 40 °CReported[codex-3mcpd][hufi2023]Ferment and age the mash
Salt10 %Measured[hufi2023]Mix the koji with salt water
DocumentedSauces and condiments3 months – 3.1 monthsMore sauces and condimentsMore from Vietnam

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo Vietnamese standard recipe was found. One Vietnamese lab study mixed koji with 35 % (v/w) of 10 % brine for a lotus-seed and soybean sauce.
Soybeans, whole or defatted[codex-3mcpd]
Wheat or another cereal grain[codex-3mcpd]
Aspergillus oryzae and/or Aspergillus sojae koji starter[codex-3mcpd]
Salt water[codex-3mcpd]
Starter: Aspergillus oryzae and/or A. sojae koji

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 months – 3.1 months

Start
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What changes: Soybeans and grain are cooked so the mould can grow on them

Step 1 of 5
Cook the soybeans and grain
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Aspergillus
Aspergillus oryzae
Aspergillus sojae
Lactic acid bacteria
Yeasts
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Nước tương is the Vietnamese name for soy sauce, distinct from tương, the thick fermented soybean paste. Like Chinese jiangyou it is brewed from soybeans and grain with koji and brine, but the same name also covers sauces made partly or wholly from acid-hydrolysed soy protein.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Naturally brewed nước tươngKoji fermented in salt water for months, as Codex describes for fermented soy sauce.
  • Short-term fermented soy sauceThe brine stage runs at 40 °C or above and finishes within 90 days.
  • Acid-hydrolysed and semi-chemical soy sauceMade from soybean protein hydrolysed with hydrochloric acid, alone or blended with brewed sauce; not fermented, or only partly.

Safety

Codex notes that soy sauces made only by fermentation contain little or no 3-MCPD, while sauces made with hydrochloric-acid-hydrolysed soy protein, or blends with it, can contain this contaminant; Codex sets out how to keep it low.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The name xì dầu comes from Chinese, while nước tương means "tương water", the liquid counterpart of the bean paste tương.

  1. [codex-3mcpd] Codex Alimentarius Commission 2008, Code of practice for the reduction of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) during the production of acid-HVPs and products that contain acid-HVPs, CAC/RCP 64-2008 (copy hosted by the Slovenian food safety administration)spec
  2. [hufi2023] Khảo sát một số yếu tố ảnh hưởng đến quy trình sản xuất nước tương hạt sen và đậu nành sử dụng Aspergillus oryzae, Tạp chí Khoa học Công nghệ và Thực phẩm (HUFI), 2023 (abstract)paper
  3. [igarashi2026] Igarashi T. et al. 2026, Role of Aspergillus neutral protease II in heat-induced soy sauce sediment formation, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 110:285 (abstract)paper
  4. [wp] English Wikipedia, Soy sauce (outline only)wiki