#Fish sauce how to#

#Fish sauce how to#

How to prep:įor cooking, you can use fish sauce straight, but never add it to a dry pan or the smell will be overpowering. Fish sauces bottled in glass taste better and last longer than those packaged in plastic.

For cooking, stronger-flavored, lower-grade brands, such as Squid or Tiparos, which are made from a secondary draining, work fine. High-quality fish sauce, which is the first to be drained off the fermented fish, is usually pale amber, with a more delicate and balanced flavor premium-grade fish sauce, such as Three Crabs or Phu Quoc brands, are best in dipping sauces. As with olive oil, there are several grades of fish sauce. You can find fish sauce in most supermarkets, but an Asian market will offer more brands to choose from. As the fish break down, they produce a brown liquid-the fish sauce-which is drained from a spigot at the bottom of the container. Fish Sauce has a sharp, salty taste with a strong aroma that is used as a seasoning or condiment to enhance the flavor of various foods. They are then covered with an airtight top and set in a warm sunny spot where they are left to ferment for nine months and up to a year. Every fish sauce company has a slightly different method but, in general, fish sauce is made by layering seafood like fish, shrimp, or crab in a vat with sea salt, Nguyen says. A bamboo mat is placed over the final layer and topped with a weight to keepthe fish in place. The fish are packed between layers of salt in an earthenware vessel. Take out the cooked fish, let it rest for 5 minutes and shred into tiny. May also contain Peanuts and Nuts For allergens, see ingredients in bold. METHOD Clean out the Fish, heat up 2 cups of water and throw in your clean fish. Though its aroma is strongly fishy straight from the bottle, cooking mellows it considerably, as does combining it with other assertive ingredients, like lime juice, chile, and garlic.įish sauce is made from freshly caught fish that are too small for substantial eating, such as anchovies. Anchovy Extract (68) (Fish), Salt, Sugar, Water Allergy Information. Known as nam pla in Thai and nuoc nam in Vietnamese, fish sauce imparts a distinctive salty flavor to many of the region’s dishes. This pungent amber-brown liquid is a mainstay in Southeast Asian cooking. Nam pla (in Thai) nuoc mam (Vietnamese) What is it?