With centuries-old roots in Southeast Asian cuisine, fish sauce caramel is breaking through as a next-gen flavor builder, balancing funk and sweetness with craveable complexity.

Flavors on the Edge: Fish Sauce Caramel

Global flavors, ingredients and menu concepts inspire modern menu development

By Katie Ayoub
November 4, 2025

With a flavor that’s funky, complex and rooted in tradition, fish sauce caramel is quietly making its way onto trend-forward menus. It boasts deep roots in Southeast Asia, especially prevalent in Vietnamese cuisine, where savory fish sauce is slowly cooked with sugar to create an umami-rich glaze. It delivers a striking balance of salt, sweet and funk, with remarkable versatility.

Today, fish sauce caramel is showing up on everything from crispy wings and fried chicken sandwiches to roasted vegetable dishes, ribs and desserts. As the next iteration of salted caramel and miso caramel, fish sauce caramel brings intensity and edge—exactly what diners are craving. Sweet, savory and unapologetically bold, fish sauce caramel is poised for broader menu discovery, anchored by its deep roots in Southeast Asian cooking and propelled by today’s appetite for next-level umami.

Flavors on the Edge is an ongoing series that explores emerging ingredients poised to become high-impact flavor builders.