Have you ever noticed that whenever you go to a casual rice restaurant, there is always a bottle of fish sauce or a jar of salt on the table? Even though the dishes are already very flavorful, many people still feel the need to add a bit of fish sauce, a bit of salt, or a bit of chili to make it more delicious. Vietnamese people have long been considered one of the saltiest eating nations in Asia. There is even a humorous saying that Vietnamese people can go without meat or fish, but they cannot go without fish sauce or salt. But why is that?
Why are we accustomed to eating saltier compared to many other countries?
The first thing to mention is geography. Vietnam has a coastline of over 3,200 km stretching from North to South. Living near the sea, what is the easiest thing to exploit? That is salt. Just take seawater and pour it into fields to dry in the sun for a few days, and it crystallizes into white salt. Salt is cheap and easy to make, and every household has it. Thus, it has become a basic seasoning in every meal. Vietnamese people have had salt early on, and the habit of seasoning with salt has formed for a long time. So, in households where someone cooks salty, people often tease each other, "Is salt cheap these days?"
In contrast, let's compare with Europe during the Middle Ages. Salt was so rare at that time that there was a period when it was considered white gold, and it even caused wars. In ancient Africa, trading salt made people wealthy. And the Africans who traded salt mostly sold it to Europe. Europeans limited their use of salt in cooking, mainly using herbs like rosemary and mint. In Vietnam, on the other hand, there is an abundance of cheap salt, so Vietnamese people freely season their food. Thus, Vietnamese people have been eating salty from the start.
Furthermore, Vietnam is a hot and humid tropical country with a lot of sunshine and rain. In such conditions, laborers in the fields sweat continuously and lose a lot of sweat. And what does sweat contain? Sweat contains salt. Losing a lot of salt naturally means the body requires salt to be replenished. Replenishing salt means eating salty food. So, with salt readily available and needing a lot of it, eating salty becomes a natural thing. This is somewhat different from countries with temperate climates. For example, Europeans do not work outdoors year-round, so they sweat less, resulting in a lower need for salt replenishment. Meanwhile, Vietnamese people work in the fields from morning to afternoon, and only a salty meal makes them feel full and satisfied.
This perspective has been passed down for many generations. The habit of eating salty is also historically related to the climate, specifically in terms of food preservation. Nowadays, we have refrigerators and freezers, but let's go back to just a few decades ago in rural areas, where there was no other way to preserve food than by salting it. In the hot weather of Vietnam, without salting, how could food be preserved? Fish caught that cannot be eaten immediately must be salted. Meat used for ceremonies must be salted to prevent spoilage. Vegetables are pickled to be stored. Everything is related to salt, everything is salty, and eating a lot has formed a habit.
Eating plain rice without a piece of pickled eggplant or a bowl of pickled vegetables feels lacking. Our ancestors did not just eat salty because they liked it, but they had to eat salty. Thanks to salt, food lasts longer from day to month, and gradually this habit has deeply ingrained into the taste of Vietnamese people. Meanwhile, in places with colder climates, food is already easier to preserve, so people do not need to use much salt. In Northern Europe, people can hang fish outside all winter without it spoiling. In Vietnam, if not salted, meat and fish spoil in an instant. Therefore, salt is both a natural preservative and a seasoning, contributing to the salty eating habit of Vietnamese people.
Our ancestors had a saying, "Fish that doesn't eat salt will spoil," and that's why. Salt not only exists in the form of regular grains but also in another form, which is fish sauce. No country in the world uses fish sauce as much and as commonly as Vietnam. Fish sauce is not just a seasoning; it is the soul of Vietnamese cuisine. From bowls of noodles, pho, rice, salads, every dish is somewhat related to fish sauce. If not added at this stage, it will be added at another stage. Eating rice without fish sauce is like fish without salt. Fish sauce itself is salty and is often mixed with garlic, chili, and sugar to make dipping sauce. Thus, every meal of Vietnamese people becomes a bit saltier.
Let's try to make a few comparisons with some other countries in the region and the continent. The Japanese have soy sauce, the Koreans often use soy sauce, and the Chinese also have soy sauce. But the level of attachment is not as strong, not as connected as fish sauce is to Vietnamese people. In Vietnam, one can go without meat or vegetables, but if a meal lacks a bowl of fish sauce, it is considered tasteless. This is also a long-standing habit. Ancestors ate salty, parents ate salty, and children also eat salty. There is a saying, "The father's generation eats salty, the child's generation thirsts for water." Of course, this should not be understood literally. But in some way, it reflects the salty eating habit of Vietnamese people.
Children from a young age are accustomed to fish sauce, so their taste buds consider saltiness as delicious. Many people who go abroad and eat bland food find it unsuitable because they are used to eating salty in the Vietnamese way. So, is there any number illustrating the saltiness of Vietnamese people? According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, Vietnamese people consume an average of about 9 to 10 grams of salt per day. This figure is double the recommendation from the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO recommends 5 g/day. Research also shows that about 70% of the salt consumed by Vietnamese people comes from added seasonings during cooking. That is fish sauce, that is salt, that is seasoning powder, not from processed foods as in the West. This proves that eating salty is a traditional cooking habit, not simply due to industrial food.
In the past, eating salty helped our ancestors stay healthy in the fields, helping to avoid salt loss. But today, when living conditions have changed, eating salty has become a burden on health. And eating too salty is definitely not good for health. What happens when you eat salty? Having too much salt can cause high blood pressure. High blood pressure leads to cardiovascular risks and strokes. According to the World Health Organization, if salt intake is reduced to the recommended level, Vietnam could reduce tens of thousands of deaths from cardiovascular diseases each year. But saying it is easy, doing it is hard. The Ministry of Health once launched a campaign to understand as eating less salt, recommending cooking with less salt, not placing salt jars on the table, and using other seasonings as substitutes.
But in reality, changing habits that have lasted for hundreds of years is not easy. Speaking of salty eating, Vietnam is not only famous in Asia, but each region in our country also eats salty in very different ways. The Central region is considered the saltiest region in Vietnam. Surveys show that people in the Central region, especially in coastal provinces like Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Hue, eat saltier by one and a half times compared to the North and South. The reason is very easy to understand; the year-round hot winds, sweating a lot, and living near the sea mean that salt and fish sauce are always available.
Once again talking about saltiness, Vietnamese fish sauce has caught the attention of the Guinness World Records. Vietnamese fish sauce has one of the highest protein levels in the world, with some types reaching 60° protein. To put it simply, just one spoon of this type of fish sauce is saltier than a bowl of bland soup. Vietnamese people not only use it for seasoning but also dip directly, which many other ethnic groups shake their heads at. Another interesting fact is that many Vietnamese families, especially in rural areas, almost always have two to three salty dishes on the table. Braised meat, braised fish, pickled vegetables, fish sauce, and dipping boiled vegetables. Vegetable dishes and soups must also have added salt to taste rich and delicious.
Even dipping fruits must be done with salt. This surprises Westerners greatly. Compared to the Western style, where a meal includes bland salad, bread, and bland soup, a Vietnamese meal indeed has too much salt. Yet, sometimes Vietnamese people consider the habit of eating salty as part of their identity. Some culinary researchers have joked that fish sauce is not just a seasoning but also a national treasure. The national treasure here is what pulls the taste of Vietnamese people towards saltiness, making us different from many other culinary cultures.
Therefore, to answer the question of why Vietnamese people eat salty, we can summarize it as due to geography, with our long coastline. Due to the hot and humid climate that causes labor to lose a lot of salt. Due to the history of needing to preserve food because we are in a tropical area. Due to the culture of fish sauce that has lasted for generations. Eating salty was once a survival need. Fish sauce was once something that brought identity, but too much salt is very harmful to the body.