Fish sauce is a
condiment
that is derived from fish that have been allowed to
ferment. It is an essential ingredient
in many curries and sauces. Fish sauce is a staple ingredient in
Filipino,
Vietnamese,
Thai,
Lao, and
Cambodian cuisine and is used in other
Southeast Asian countries. In addition to being added to dishes
during the cooking process, fish sauce can also be used in mixed
form as a dipping condiment, and it is done in many different ways
by each country mentioned for
fish,
shrimp,
pork, and
chicken.
In parts of southern China
, it is used
as an ingredient for soups and casseroles.
Fish sauce, and its derivatives, impart an
umami flavor to food due to their glutamate
content.
Types
Some fish sauces (extracts) are made from raw fish, others from
dried fish; some from only a single
species,
others from whatever is dredged up in the net, including some
shellfish; some from whole fish, others
from only the
blood or
viscera. Some fish sauces contain only fish and
salt, others add a variety of
herbs and
spices. Fish sauce that
has been only briefly fermented has a pronounced fishy taste, while
extended fermentation reduces this and gives the product a
nuttier, cheesier flavor.
Southeast Asian
Southeast Asian fish sauce is often made from
anchovies, salt and water, and is often used in
moderation because it is intensely flavoured. Anchovies and salt
are arranged in wooden boxes to ferment and are slowly pressed,
yielding the salty, fishy liquid.
The variety from Vietnam
is generally
called nước mắm (well known by brand names including
nước mắm Phú Quốc (Phu Quoc
) and
nước mắm Phan Thiết (Phan Thiet
)) and similar condiments from Thailand
and Myanmar
are called
nam pla (น้ำปลา) and ngan byar yay
respectively. In Lao/Isan
it is called
nam pa, but a chunkier, more aromatic version known as
padaek is also used. In Cambodia
, it is known
as teuk trei (ទឹកត្រី), of which there are a variety of
sauces using fish sauce as a base.
The
Indonesian
semisolid fish paste trasi, the Cambodian prahok and the Malay fermented krill brick belacan or
budu from liquid anchovies are other popular
variations of the same theme. The similar
Filipino version common to
Indochina is called
patis. Patis is
nearly always cooked prior to consumption (even if used as an
accent to
salads or other raw dishes), or
used as a cooking ingredient. It is also used in place of table
salt in meals to enhance the flavor of the food but instead of
being poured on the food, it is often used as a dipping
sauce.
Southeast Asians generally use fish sauce as a cooking sauce.
However, there is a sweet and sour version of this sauce which is
used more commonly as a dipping sauce (see
nước chấm). In Thailand, fish
sauce is used in cooking and is also kept in a jar at the table for
use as a condiment. This jar often contains a mixture of fish
sauce, lime juice, and chopped hot chilies, called
prik nam
pla.
Korean
In Korea, it is called
aek jeot, and is used as a crucial
ingredient in many types of
Kimchi (usually
from
myul chi, anchovy or
kanari which is made
from
sand lance), both for taste and
fermentation. The anchovy-based fish sauce lends itself well to the
making of radish type kimchi. Kanari type fish sauce is more
expensive than the anchovy-based fish sauce and is usually reserved
for the preparation of special cabbage (baechu) kimchi.
Sae woo
jeot (shrimp) is also popular as side sauce.
Japanese
In Japan, it is used as a seasoning of local specialties.
Ishiru in the Noto Peninsula
is made from the sardine and
the squid. Shottsuru of
Akita
Prefecture
is chiefly
made from the sailfin
sandfish. Ikanago shoyu of Kagawa
Prefecture
is made from the sand
lance. They are often reserved for the preparation of
the
Nabemono.
Western
A similar fish sauce was ubiquitous in Classical Roman cooking,
where in
Latin it is known as
garum or
liquamen, and also existed in
many varieties such as
oxygarum (mixed with vinegar) and
meligarum (mixed with
honey). It was
one of the trade specialties in
Hispania Baetica. It was made of a variety
of fish including tuna, mackerel, moray eel, and anchovies.
Garum was frequently maligned as smelling bad or rotten,
being called, for example, "evil-smelling fish sauce." This
attitude derives in part from ancient authors who satirized the
condiment, but mostly from the fact that fish sauce was generally
unknown in the Western world until very recently. The truth is
quite different, and in fact
garum only smelled when it
was being made. Once the process was complete it had a pleasant
aroma for as long as it was usable.
In
English it was formerly
translated as
fishpickle. The original
Worcestershire sauce is a related
product because it is fermented and contains anchovies.
Origin
The origin of fish sauce is still shrouded under speculation,
although it has been suggested fish sauce first appeared in China.
It was documented that the ancient Chinese used salt to make a
fermented fish sauce which gradually evolved with the addition of
soy beans as filler to become a fermented bean sauce known today as
soy sauce. As the predominant Chinese
population live away from the coast, fish sauce was not practical.
In contrast, soya beans are the staples.
Regions of China such
as Fujian
and Chaoshan, however, still widely use fish sauce and
it is believed this is due to proximity to the coast.
However, while it is mainly the ethnic Chinese (usually Hokkien and
Teochew) who cook with fish sauce in Indonesia and Malaysia, it is
a staple of nearly every dish in cuisines such as Vietnamese, Thai
and Cambodian. Additionally, Chinese envoys to Thailand in the 17th
century mentioned fish sauce as a condiment in use there.
It is said early fishing boats were unable to venture into the
deeper ocean to catch larger fish, instead staying close to shore
and netting many small fish lacking in meat. They found that by
layering these many small fish in barrels with salt, they could
produce a protein-rich sauce. Fish sauce as a primary source of
protein, most often simply mixed with rice, continued through
European colonization.
See also
References
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