Fish Sauce, What The Bleep Is It Really?

Fish Sauce, you may have heard of it, use it in cooking, or cringe when you hear the words, but do you really know what it is and how it is made?  Our ingredient spotlight today will shed light on all things fish sauce, including:  ingredients, what makes it special as a flavor, and how to know when to toss an old bottle.

Ingredient wise, it all boils down to the country of origin. Fish sauce is a principal cooking ingredient for curries, sauces, pastes and condiments in Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino, and several other Southeast Asian countries.  It always includes some type of fermented fish, but the type of fish varies, as well as the ingredients and spices added to it. In general, most fish sauces are made of three simple ingredients:  fish, water, and salt.   Anchovies are the most common fish used in fish sauce.

Now we’re going to get Alton Brown style geeky with you.  Fish sauce, as well as aged cheeses and meats contain glutamates, the salts of the amino acid glutamic acid.  Glutamates are flavor enhancers, and are the essential component of the hard to describe savory flavor known as Umami.  So there is a scientific reason why fish sauce tastes good!

So, what brand of fish sauce is best? Of course that all depends on your personal tastes. Chef Ming Tsai recommends the Three Crabs brand, and Chowhounders here discuss several favorites, including:  Golden Boy and Tra Chang from Thailand, and Colatura di Alici from the Amalfi Coast of Italy.

Does it go bad? Listen, everything goes bad eventually, everything!  Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Watch this video from Chow featuring Chef and Asian food expert Corinne Trang as she explains when it’s time to toss the sauce.

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