Best Southeast Asian Salt Types
Garam Amed Bali is hand-harvested, unrefined, and free from additives sea salt from Amed on the Indonesian island of Bali. Garam Amed Bali consists of cube and tetragonal-shaped crystals and is white, shiny, and savory with a unique old wood fragrance.
It is unrefined, unwashed, and additive-free, characterized by a crunchy and crispy texture. Bunga Garam Amed Bali features light and fine salt flakes that dissolve easily, ideal for use as table salt. Both salts have a strong saltiness without bitterness and share a similar mineral composition, including high sodium chloride content and trace minerals like copper and magnesium.
Kampot sea salt is a type of sea salt that is extracted from seawater through evaporation ponds in the coastal regions of Kampot and Kep provinces in Cambodia. These salt farms span approximately 4,748 hectares of land and are managed by around 200 families who are part of the Kampot-Kep Salt Association.
The salt pans are located along the river at the town's outskirts, where large warehouses store the equipment and protect the harvested salt from the elements. The salt is produced using an evaporation technique where, each year in December, seawater is allowed to flow into salt fields.
Ilocano asin is a type of sea salt that originates from the pure seawaters of Pangasinan in the Philippines. It is a moist, naturally white sea salt that offers bright, clean, and crisp flavors and is enhanced by the presence of underlying minerals, which contribute to a complex and well-balanced taste.
The salt's texture is a unique combination of granular (sal gris) and flake (fleur de sel) crystals, providing a distinct texture that melts quickly on the palate, giving an instantaneous taste. The salt crystals from Pangasinan are hand-harvested and are known for their lush, almost billowy quality, which is likened to an exaggerated version of fleur de sel.
Asín tibuok is a rare and traditional Filipino artisanal sea salt produced by the Boholano people. The appearance of asín tibuok is quite unique, often compared to a dinosaur egg due to its shape and texture. The method used for its preservation and creation dates back to before the Spanish Colonization of the Philippines over 500 years ago.
The seawater is filtered through ashes, which gives it a distinctive flavor profile that is sharp, earthy, and has mild smoky undertones. Asinderos, or the group of salt makers, recognize that the asín tibuok is ready when the clay pot used in the production cracks to reveal the round bottom of the salt, which at this point, has solidified and filled the pot.
Best Southeast Asian Salt Producers
Best Southeast Asian Salts
AWARDS

Great Taste Awards - 2 stars
2024
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.