PeterLucas wrote on Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:01:35 +0000 (UTC):

> Fish sauce is *never* used by itself!! Usually used with
> several other ingredients in a dipping sauce, or added to a
> curry at the end for a bit of a flavour hit.

> Fish sauce is often made with anchovies and is made by leaving
> large quantities of fish to ferment in salt, and straining off
> the 'juice' :-)

> http://importfood.com/how_fish_sauce_is_made.html

> http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/fea...ishsauce1.html

> "In case you are not yet familiar with fish sauce, it is that
> salty, smelly brown liquid made from fish that is the single,
> most important flavoring ingredient in Thai cooking (also
> well-loved in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma and the
> Philippines). Used like salt in western cooking and soy sauce
> in Chinese cooking, good-quality fish sauce imparts a distinct
> aroma and flavor all its own. It is indispensable in the Thai
> kitchen as Thai food wouldn't be quite the same without it.

> Called "nam bplah" in Thai, or literally "fish water," genuine
> fish sauce is the water, or juice, in the flesh of fish that
> is extracted in the process of prolonged salting and
> fermentation. It is made from small fish that would otherwise
> have little value for consumption. This can either be
> freshwater or sal****er fish, though today, most fish sauce is
> made from the latter as pollution and dams have drastically
> reduced the once plentiful supply of freshwater fish in the
> heartlands of Southeast Asia.

> Among marine fish, anchovies and related species of small
> schooling fish from two to five inches in length are commonly
> used, as they can be found in bountiful supply in the coastal
> waters of the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea. Larger
> varieties of fish, such as mackerel and sardines, also make
> good fish sauce, but because they are relatively more
> expensive due to their value as a food fish, they are seldom
> used in the commercial production of fish sauce.

> For fish sauce to develop a pleasant, fragrant aroma and
> taste, the fish must be very fresh. As soon as fishing boats
> return with their catch, the fish are rinsed and drained, then
> mixed with sea salt – two to three parts fish to one part salt
> by weight. They are then filled into large earthenware jars,
> lined on the bottom with a layer of salt, and topped with a
> layer of salt. A woven bamboo mat is placed over the fish and
> weighted down with heavy rocks to keep the fish from floating
> when water inside them are extracted out by the salt and
> fermentation process.

> The jars are covered and left in a sunny location for nine
> months to a year. From time to time, they are uncovered to air
> out and to let the fish be exposed to direct, hot sunshine,
> which helps "digest" the fish and turn them into fluid. The
> periodic "sunning" produces a fish sauce of superior quality,
> giving it a fragrant aroma and a clear, reddish brown color.

> After enough months have passed, the liquid is removed from
> the jars, preferably through a spigot on the bottom of the
> jars, so that it passes through the layers of fish remains; or
> by siphoning. Any sediments are strained out with a clean
> cloth. The filtered fish sauce is filled into other clean jars
> and allowed to air out in the sun for a couple of weeks to
> dissipate the strong fish odors. It is then ready for
> bottling. The finished product is 100-percent, top-grade,
> genuine fish sauce. "

A fascinating discussion; thanks indeed! In my defence, I would say that
my tasting of fish sauce occurred twice. Once was an experiment just to
see and the second was to check what was in two similar bottles at a pho
restaurant; one was hoison sauce and one wasn't!

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not