The fish sauce you bought must have been spoiled. Its flavour is supposed to meld with the other flavours in a dish so that you can barely taste it's there.

I use the "Squid" brand (which does not contain squid). If you can't find that, try Blue Dragon. It's a good quality brand of all sorts of Asian foodstuffs. And check the "sell by" date. Unless you plan to do a lot of east Asian cooking a bottle of fish sauce can last for what seems like forever.

ditto. Squid brand.

Cook's Illustrated tested six brands and while different tasters preferred different brands there were no clear winners or losers so they said just buy what's available. They suggested that the lighter the color the milder the flavor, so you might want to go by that.

Squid brand they described as "nicely balanced" and "a bit sweet."

By their decription it sounds like the mildest they tested was Thai Kitchen, which they described as having a "very light flavor" and being "easy to take." I would say the same for the Ka-Me that's in my fridge but which they didn't test. The fact that it's before 8am and I had no issues just now tasting it straight up speaks for itself.

The fact that it's before 8am and I had no issues just now tasting it straight up speaks for itself.

LOL! That sauce I had was so awful, I couldn't even bear to pour it down the drain. I capped it right back up & took it outside to the garbage can. Maybe should have sent it to a hazardous waste site....

Great! Now I have a list to take to the market & I won't have to keep scrolling past recipes that sound delish 'ceptin for the fish sauce. Thank You!

Netla is right. Fish sauce is supposed to enhance the flavors of other ingredients in a dish. It's not supposed to give a lot of its own flavor to a dish.

Jim

I have a bottle in the refrigerator, I only use it for Sol's Chicken in Caramel Sauce, nothing else works. I'm at work so I can't check the label right now.

It does not have an extremely egregious flavor but the stuff is immensely salty. Maybe I should try a different brand...

Annie

Three Crabs brand. Learned about it on Ming Tsai's show.

Jim - I respectfully disagree with you. In the Filipino culture, we use it as a dipping sauce with certain dishes, straight up with just a dash of vinegar or lemon juice, we want to taste the fishiness. Ironically, I don't care for fish sauce made in the Philippines - too harsh - I prefer the Thai brand that I buy.

Fish sauce varies greatly from country to country within Asia, and so it's helpful to say whether you bought Vietnamese, Thai, Philippino, Korean, etc. fish sauce, rather than just "Asian", which is too broad a term. I prefer Thai and Vietnamese, and I have had some Thai fish sauce that was very thick and cloudy with a very strong flavor, but it was exactly what one recipe for Thai fish soup required. However, it was NOT appropriate for use in a dipping sauce. Some fish sauces are meant to be cooked, and some are meant to be used with or without cooking, and these are generally translucent and not at all cloudy. You can tell a fair amount about a fish sauce by its appearance. I always keep at least two types of fish sauce on hand, and I'll look to see what brands I have when I get home. I don't have any Indonesian fish sauce, but I understand that some of those are quite strong in flavor.

Lars

Lars, the sauce I had was very thin, very salty, very, very fishy. As I recall, it was cloudy. Hmong is the predominant Asian culture in my area but, like I said, I discarded whatever brand it was that I had.

I've bought the stuff a couple of times and had the same reaction. YUK. I just sub soy sauce or leave it out, depending on the recipe. Maybe I'll give one of the brands above another shot. But, I think my brain has already said no, lol.

The thin sauce should not be cloudy. It if it cloudy, it should be thick, and so there is a chance that it was bad. Do you remember whether it was Vietnamese or Thai? If you didn't like it, it might be a good idea to remember the brand so that you don't buy it again by mistake. However, if you want a milder flavor, stay away from anything that is cloudy. I personally like the cloudy ones for certain recipes.

You didn't say what recipe you used it in - was it an uncooked sauce? If so, that would explain part of the problem, but if it was a soup that is cooked, that would be a different situation. I use a different fish sauce in cooked recipes than in uncooked ones.

Lars

Three Crab here. If I can't find that, I go with Squid.

Hmmm. the stuff I have is Vietnamese fish sauce, it's dark, like soy sauce, stinks to high heaven and is very salty.

Annie

Koreans don't traditionally make or use the stuff. But recently they've discovered it and they like the Vietnamese Three Crabs brand. It's the color of caramel. Beware, like most condiments and sauces it does contain MSG - on the label as "hydrolyzed wheat protein".

I found this article on Korean anchovy paste, which can be used in making kimchi (see Chris' response), whereas regular fish sauce should not be used. I think the anchovy paste might be what I had that was cloudy and strong tasting. Some people still use regular fish sauce in kimchi, however - see link below.

Lars

Here is a link that might be useful: Further discussion of fish sauce

You didn't say what recipe you used it in - was it an uncooked sauce?

Without digging into my recipes, I think it was an ingredient in a dressing for an Asian chicken salad so, yes, it was an uncooked sauce. Recipe probably from this forum. And, yeh, I should have saved the bottle or at least made a note not to buy it again.

I'll put in my 2 cents for Squid brand as well! I have been thru a few bottles now...use it in Thai curries, meat marinades, Vietnamese soups...

Good luck!

The fish sauce for kimchi is not the fish sauce we are talking about here - it is not for consumption by the masses yet - LOL. The fish sauce Americans are becoming familiar with is the Vietnamese fish sauce.

Koreans are experimenting with incorporating Vietnamese-style fish sauce into traditional recipes. Just as Americans have incorporated many new ingredients into our melting pot cuisine, other cuisines are changing too. A traditional addition to kimchi is tiny fermented shrimp or oysters, but the taste they are trying to get is similar to the Vietnamese fish sauce, which is becoming widely available.

Another example of Korean cuisine changing with new ingredients is the use of kiwi and other fruit instead of asian pears to tenderize Bulgogi beef.

But I'm hijacking the thread, sorry!

I've not seen any fish sauce of any sort in the stores here. Small town. Can anchovies be used as a reasonable substitute if I can't find the fish sauce in the big city and hour away? I would try the Thai restaurant that used to be here but it burned down this year and is out of business.

Mike, you can get fish sauce on line (see link below).

Gina, I think the first fish sauce I had was very similar to the Korean type, and this was when I was living in San Francisco. It was made from anchovies, was gray, cloudy, thick, and very pungent, but it mellowed when cooked in the fish soup. It tasted nothing at all like the Vietnamese fish sauce I had later, which resembled soy sauce more than it did the first fish sauce I had. I guess the population of San Francisco is not the same as the masses. It had very limited use, but it was an essential ingredient to the soup I was making.

Lars

Here is a link that might be useful: 3 Crabs fish sauce at Amazon

Mike, here's what Sheila Lukins (bless her soul) recommends in her All Around the World cookbook:

1 can drained anchovies
2 cloves bruised and peeled garlic
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup water

Simmer for 10 minutes, then strain.

I'm glad to learn here that all fish sauces are not the same. I have tried the Vietnamese and some other type and they taste and smell alike to me and they are horrible fishy. I've never seen the Squid or Three Crabs brand here. What I have bought was so bad that I just don't use fish sauce when it's called for in a recipe.

emmisme, Lars, et al,

Thanks for correcting me. I'm learning a lot from this thread.

Jim

Beverly, fish sauce is not very palatable to Americans. You probably just don't like it no matter what brand. It is pretty stinky and weird stuff! Like many Asians can't stand cheese - they think it's stinky and weird too.

....not very palatable to SOME Americans

fixed that for ya lol

Oh, yes, just tasting it out of the bottle isn't very good. But it really is good in the recipes that call for it!

Well... I posted a reply on this thread last night... and now... it's gone... Here it is again...

Most Vietnamese, including myself, prefer the 3 crabs (2nd bottle from the right). For second choice, it would be the squid (3rd bottle from the right).

If you order them online, make sure they package it well. Because if the bottle breaks, it would be disastrous.

Btw, fish sauce is not supposed to have a pleasant smell. It is a strong odor and it takes sometimes to get used to. Also, as with soy sauce, once the bottle has been opened, it does not need to be refrigerated as long as you keep it tightly closed. However, in time, the color of the sauce will get darker.

Most of the time, when a recipe is called for fish sauce and you're one that is not fond of it, you may substitute fish sauce with soy sauce.

All this time I thought the bottle I have must have gone bad. I have a bottle of Blue Ginger brand. I'll try one of the others recommended here.

Here is a picture of the Korean fish sauce that I have. The ingredients are shrimp, salt, water, and MSG. It is gray, cloudy, and thick, and I only just opened it. I bought it in Korea Town because I wanted to make kimchi but haven't gotten around to it yet. I also have the Korean chili that I've been using for other dishes.

The other fish sauce I have is Roland Brand Fish Sauce (Nam Pla) made in Thailand. A 6.76oz. (200mL) bottle cost $1.98 at Bay Cities Deli in Santa Monica. The ingredients are anchovies, salt, sugar, and water. The label is also marked "No MSG". This is the brand that I use most of the time, but I think I will look for the Squid brand and Three Crabs, although I really don't like for it to be too sweet.

After reading Fish Sauce Emergency, I decided to skip the Squid brand and buy Three Crabs at Surfas.

Lars

LOL on the Emergency story Lars. And I still have some of the red pepper flakes you gave us - it's very potent stuff, more than usual, so I use it sparingly. Good quality.

Take a look at my favorite Korean cook at Maangchi.com. She has a lot of recipes and each one has a video, including kimchi. And she uses Vietnamese fish sauce in her recipes too.

I just got back from Surfas and discovered that I bought NINE Crabs brand fish sauce (from Thailand) instead of Three Crabs. So I have six extra crabs on the label. I opened it up to sample it, and I prefer the Roland brand, which is also Thai. I am determined, however, to find some Vietnamese fish sauce! I guess I'll have to go back to Surfas and be more careful.

I'll check some of the Maangchi recipes when I have more time. I looked at the cucumber pickle recipe, and it takes several days. I didn't see her kimchi recipe, but I will look for it.

Lars

Well, the ingredient list on mine would explain the saltiness, ingredients are anchovy extract and salt. That's all. I can't even pronounce the brand:

{{!gwi}}

Annie

Annie - Looks like you bought the good stuff. After all it says "Excellent Quality" right on the label!

Lars - For no good reason aside from killing time I shopped around for Three Crab today. Couldn't find it, or any other multiple of crab. Oh well.

LOL, FOAS, it sure does but nearly every darned other thing I can't read, so it could be "tastes like carp" or anything else for all I know!

I do know that it doesn't have a bad flavor, it just tastes like salt.

Annie