Thai fish sauce, like much of Asian cuisine, is a basic component of Thai cooking. It has a deep, transparent reddish-golden brown colour and is liberally sprinkled on almost all Thai foods. It is frequently used as a marinade for fish and meat, as well as a condiment, usually in conjunction with fresh chiles and lime juice. If you visit Thailand, you may come across it on restaurant tables, where it is traditionally added to meals in the same manner that Americans would use salt and pepper.
Good fish sauces are produced from a fermented blend of fish and salt that has been aged for up to two years. Oily fish, such as anchovies, is traditionally placed in a barrel with salt and slowly pressed to extract the liquid. Although anchovies are commonly utilised, some fish sauces are created from shrimp, krill, or mackerel. A decent fish sauce is made up of three fundamental ingredients: fish, water, and salt. It is not essential to add sweets such as caramel or molasses, or toasted rice.
Fish sauce flavour profile
Fish sauce has a fishy, salty, and slightly weird flavour, but in a nice manner. It's frequently used with lime juice and other ingredients to help balance out the flavour and scent. Because it isn't always used as a stand-alone product, it doesn't always make a meal taste "fishy," unless used excessively. It adds a delicious umami flavour. A drop or two, for example, is frequently added to noodle meals at the table as a condiment to intensify the flavours.
How to use fish sauce and how to pick them?
The possibilities are truly limitless, but in general, you can substitute fish sauce for salt. Just remember that a little goes a long way. Add a spoonful to stir-fries, stocks, marinades, and vinaigrettes, or use it to enhance the natural umami taste of tomatoes in tomato sauce or tomato soup.
Vietnamese, Thai, and Filipino fish sauces are all unique and made to enhance their local cuisines, so if you cook a lot of Thai meals, you might choose a Thai fish sauce, and so on. Vietnamese fish sauce (nuoc mam) is the lightest and sweetest, and it works well in a range of meals.
