Everything about Fish Sauce totally explained
Fish sauce is a
condiment derived from fish that have been allowed to
ferment. It is an essential ingredient in many curries and sauces. Fish sauce is a staple ingredient in
Vietnamese,
Thai,
Lao,
Philippine cuisine and is used in other Southeast Asian countries. In addition to being added to cooking, fish sauce can also be used in mixed form as a dipping condiment, and it's done in many different ways by each country mentioned for
fish,
shrimp,
pork, and
chicken.
In southern
China, it's used as an ingredient for
soups and
casseroles.
Types
Some fish sauces (extracts) are made from raw fish, others from dried fish, some from only a single
species; others from whatever is dredged up in the net, including some
shellfish; some from whole fish, others from only the
blood or
viscera. Some fish sauces contain only fish and
salt, others add a variety of
herbs and
spices. Fish sauce that has been only briefly fermented has a pronounced fishy taste, while extended fermentation reduces this and gives the product a
nuttier, cheesier flavor.
Southeast Asian
Southeast Asian fish sauce is often made from
anchovies, salt and water, and is often used in moderation because it's intensely flavoured. Anchovies and salt are arranged in wooden boxes to ferment and are slowly pressed, yielding the salty, fishy liquid. The variety from
Vietnam is generally called
nước mắm (well known by brand names including
nước mắm Phú Quốc (
Phu Quoc) and
nước mắm Phan Thiết (
Phan Thiet)) and similar condiments from
Thailand and
Myanmar are called
nam pla (น้ำปลา) and
ngan byar yay respectively. In
Lao/
Isan it's called
nam pa, but a chunkier, more aromatic version known as
padaek is also used. In
Cambodia, it's known as
teuk trei (ទឹកត្រី), of which there are a variety of sauces using fish sauce as a base.
The
Indonesian semisolid fish paste
trasi, the
Cambodian
prahok and the
Malay fermented
krill brick
belacan or
budu from liquid anchovies are other popular variations of the same theme. The similar
Filipino version common to
Indochina is called
patis. Patis is in fact the
by-product of the making of a fish paste called
bagoong, and isn't generally consumed "as-is" on its own. Rather, it's nearly always cooked prior to consumption (even if used as an accent to
salads or other raw dishes), or used as a cooking ingredient. It is also used in place of table salt in meals to enhance the flavor of the food but instead of being poured on the food, it's often used like a dipping sauce.
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Southeast Asians generally use fish sauce as a cooking sauce, although it's sometimes used as a dipping sauce as well. However, there's a sweet and sour version of this sauce which is used more commonly as a dipping sauce (see
nước chấm).
In Korea, it's called
aek jeot (액젓), and is used as a crucial ingredient in
Kimchi (usually from
myul chi, or
kanari, meaning anchovies), both for taste and fermentation.
Sae woo jeot (shrimp) is also popular as side sauce.
Origin in the Southeast Asian diet
The origin of fish sauce in the Southeast Asian diet dates back to ancient times as a primary source of protein. Early fishing boats were unable to venture into the deeper ocean to catch larger fish, instead staying close to shore and netting many small fish lacking in meat. They found that by layering these many small fish in barrels with salt, they could produce a protein rich sauce. Fish sauce as a primary source of protein, most often simply mixed with rice, would continue through European colonization.
Western
A similar fish sauce was ubiquitous in Classical Roman cooking, where in
Latin it's known as
garum or
liquamen, and also existed in many varieties such as
oxygarum (mixed with vinegar) and
meligarum (mixed with
honey). It was one of the trade specialties in
Hispania Baetica.
Garum is frequently maligned as being bad smelling or rotten. For example, it has been described as an "evil-smelling fish sauce" made of fish ranging from tuna, mackerel, and moray eel to anchovies (Introduction to Paul Wilkinson,
Pompeii: The Last Day, London BBC Productions 2003). This attitude derives in part from ancient authors who satirized the condiment, but mostly from the fact that fish sauce was generally unknown in the Western world until very recently. The truth is quite different, and in fact
garum only smelled when it was being made. Once the process was complete it produced a pleasant aroma for as long as it was usable.
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In
English it was formerly translated as
fishpickle. The original
Worcestershire sauce is a related product because it's fermented and contains anchovies.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Fish Sauce'.
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