Thai Fish Sauce in Cooking
Thai Food Essential is a Versatile Ingredient in many Savory Recipes
Aug 20, 2009
Good quality Thai fish sauce, also known as nam pla, is a natural condiment made from small fish, particularly anchovies, and its rich savory flavor is suitable for a wide range of dishes, including, but not limited to fish dishes. Thai fish sauce is believed to be rich in some minerals and B vitamins when well made. Take care to avoid any inferior Thai fish sauce, such as those that include MSG on the ingredients list.
Simple Thai Fish Sauce Recipe Ideas
Thai fish sauce or nam pla is a very versatile ingredient. As well as being essential in Thai food, try these suggestions, and then use them to spark new cookery ideas:
- Mix a little Thai fish sauce with good sized dollop of sour cream, ideally Crème Fraiche d’Isiginy which has an excellent flavor, to create a cold sauce to be served at table on hot fish dishes. The richly flavored, thick cream melts appetizingly over the hot fish, so diners may well wish to add more as they eat!
- Use Thai fish sauce as a substitute for stock or bouillon cubes in gravies, soups and stews. This Spicy Marrow Soup Recipe is an example of how the rich flavor of Thai fish sauce can help to enhance bland flavors. Use sparingly as the sauce has a strong, salty flavor.
- Use Thai fish sauce in place of soy sauce in stir fries to add a rich flavor. Add the fish sauce towards the end of the cooking process.
How Thai Fish Sauce is Made
Fresh fish is mixed with salt and left to ferment in containers under the water that is naturally extracted from the fish; no water is added at this stage. Top quality Thai fish sauce is the strained, aired, undiluted liquid that results from several months of this fermentation process. Cheaper sauces are made by adding salt water to the resulting remains of fish, and repeating the fermentation and straining process.
The process by which Thai fish sauce is made is most definitely fermentation and not putrefaction or rotting. While such a fermentation process is unfamiliar to many in the West, it similar to the production of soy sauce, and other fermented foods enjoyed worldwide, the results of which are invariably delicious.
Thai Fish Sauce Similar to Roman Garum Fish Sauce Condiment
The fermented fish sauces garum and liquamen were very popular ingredients in Roman cooking. Their flavor and usage appears to have been similar to that of modern day Asian fish sauces, including Thai fish sauce. The manufacturing process of Roman fish sauces process was also similar to that of Thai fish sauce, although different types of sauces used a variety of raw ingredients including fish blood, viscera and gills.
Sources:
Salt a World History by Mark Kurlansky
http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/features/fishsauce1.html
Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon
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