Phan Thiet is famed for its fish sauce (nuoc mam). This overpoweringly pungent condiment is quintessential to Vietnamese cuisine. The production process is lengthy and complex. Anchovy-like fish are cleaned and then placed in large vats of brine with layers of salt. Left for eight months to a year, the by-product is drained and then bottled. The annual nuoc mam production in the region is 16 to 17 million litres, and the Fasaco factory just outside Phan Thiet accounts for most of this.