Yamani Sangyo’s fish sauce is made with 100% natural Naruto sea bream caught in the fishing grounds of Naruto Straight, one of the world’s three major currents. The sauce is made by fermenting the fish and has become a traditional Japanese seasoning that adds depth to Japanese cuisine through richness and umami unique to animal protein.
The company, headquartered in Naruto City, Tokushima Prefecture, has set net fishing grounds on the west side of Naruto Straight and developed the fish sauce in collaboration with a local manufacturing company. Using rice malt for fermentation and adding in a distillation process suppresses the unique aroma of fish sauce. The finished product is a mild yet full-bodied sea bream sauce with a rich aroma and the umami of seafood. The sauce makes use of sea bream that have been weakened in the fishing process and sizes that are difficult to price, thereby helping to alleviate food loss of fish that would otherwise be discarded.
The fish sauce can be used with sashimi or tofu in place of soy sauce and to season soups and stews. It can be used in more than just Japanese cuisine and makes a perfect alternative to Thai nampula and Vietnamese nuoc mam.
Yamani Sangyo has also made sea bream ponzu sauce that combines sea bream fish sauce with sudachi juice from Tokushima Prefecture for the perfect mix.
The packaging was designed by the art collective teamLab, whose chief representative Toshiyuki Inoko feels strongly about preventing food loss. The sauces embody Yamani Sangyo’s philosophy of delivering safe and delicious fish-based products to the table while helping to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).