Comments on: On fame, funk, and fish sauce

By: pastamasta

pastamasta — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 19:14:00 +0000

New to the blog….wonderful !!!

By: Allison

Allison — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:25:00 +0000

I’ve always meant to comment and IT’S FINALLY TIME! I made this recipe over the weekend for a picnic and it was delicious. We had some leftovers and heated them up for dinner last night and they were equally as good served hot. Thanks, Molly!

By: David

David — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:35:00 +0000

I’m an ex-pat living in Thailand. While visiting my Peace Corps volunteer parents in Ukraine, I find myself needing a substitute for fish sauce so I can make real Thai curry for a dinner party. I have all the other ingredients I need, including kaffir lime leaf, lemon grass, and panang paste from a local market. Soy sauce is good, but I agree with Niki that it alone is not sufficient to reproduce the flavor accurately.I have therefore blended a couple canned anchovies (or something like them – the label is in Cyrillic, so I’m not sure) with a quarter cup of mushroom soy sauce and a tablespoon of water … it’s very close to reproducing fish sauce. I wish I could find some fermented beans like the vegetarians suggested, but if I could find those around here I could probably find fish sauce. Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions.

By: angry!

angry! — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 02:14:00 +0000

Great bloGGG!!What is your favorite brand of fish sauce?? Just curious, I have gotten some conflicting opinions.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 01 May 2007 13:26:00 +0000

I have just discovered your blog…it’s wonderful. I’d never heard about umami before but I seem to be a big fan. I love bacon, parmesan, mushrooms and I absolutely love fish sauce. I usually don’t admit to using fish sauce because it does smell bad when you stick your nose up to the bottle. But now I might divulge my secret ingredient to all my non-foodie friends. Thanks for writing about and sharing all this tasty stuff. Love your style.

By: kayenne

kayenne — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 10:16:00 +0000

Hmm... i don't know why, but i'm sure you can find fish sauce that doesn't contain msg. ours listed ingredients as Fermented Round Scad Fish Extract, Iodized Salt, Caramel and Potassium Sorbate(as preservative). It's a local Philippine brand though and fish sace or "patis" as we call it, ranks up there with sugar cane vinegar as the dip and seasoning of choice.add a squeeze of calamansi(philippine lemon) or lime, and it's great served alongside fried fish.Julie got it right...some chopped garlic and sugar, and it's great with dumplings...or fried porkchops!if people think fish sauce stinks... they should try shrimp paste! stinky, but yummy! especially with green mangoes!

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 06:06:00 +0000

It's good to see people embracing the glory of fish sauce. The problem now for me is that I was recently put on a <>very<> low salt diet, so all these wonderful fish sauce dishes are unavailable to me until I come up with a sodium-free (or nearly so) substitute for nam pla. The trouble is, salt is such an integral part of the sauce's flavor that I don't see how it will be possible.In any event, thanks for your well-crafted evangelism of such a wonderful aspect of asian cuisine!

By: Molly

Molly — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 23:35:00 +0000

Thanks for the great tips, Covert Cheff! We have an Uwajimaya here too, and I’ll be sure to look for those mushroom extract pellets. So good to know about…

By: Covert Cheff

Covert Cheff — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 23:10:00 +0000

For a long time, my friend would comment on the “dangers” of using “too much” fish sauce. For him, there is a point where the funk becomes overwhelming. Because of the way it is aged, in wooden casks like wine but with fish bits instead of grapes, it too can trap some pretty noxious gasses (hydrogen sulfide), not at all an intentional part of UMAMI. Partly due to his objections, I worked to find a way to improve this. To reduce these possibly undesirable components of fish sauce, just sprinkle the required amount of fish sauce onto a very WARM but not flaming hot saucepan. Test to make sure it gently sizzles. As soon as it comes across the boil, remove from heat (don’t burn it!), cut with a sprinkle of water to return to original strength, and WALA! You have all the savory notes without the slightly off nose of gym sox coupled with Terrence and Phillip jokes.Incidentally, there IS a replacement for fish sauce that is 100% vegetarian. In a market where I live is a store called UWAJIMAYA. There they sell a big bag of these mushroom extract pellets. I think the price is around $15, and even with liberal use it lasts a year. Dissolved in a bit of liquid, it is SUPERIOR to fish sauce, in my estimation. It is touted as a “non-MSG” flavoring. It is essentially dried mushroom stock and salt.Enjoy!http://www.uwajimaya.com/

By: Molly

Molly — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 00:04:00 +0000

Cesar, I’ll have to go in search of that issue of <>The Art of Eating<> – it sounds very interesting! And in the meantime, I’ll be wishing I were eating some of your noodles with pork and fish sauce…