School me on asian fish sauce

[Scarpozzi]

I've been making a lot of fried rice lately. A lot of recipes include fish sauce.

I'm a huge fan of Worcestershire sauce and use it in cooking....often. It's made from fermented anchovies, onions, and garlic and the most traditional maker is Lea & Perrins....but many store brands have nailed the essence of the original. It has a very distinct smell. Fish sauce is also fermented anchovies, but it's less British. Cooking fried rice with Worcestershire sauce would yield something weird, so I buy fish sauce.

Lately, I'm using the Red Boat brand. I use a few tablespoons of it at the most because I'm sure it adds depth to the flavor as rice is bland and fried rice needs more than just soy sauce to flavor it. What I can't understand though is why fish sauce smells so terrible. It's not particularly fishy smelling. It just smells bad. Why does it smell like assholes when it's cooking?

 

[Torn Mind]

Using soy sauce on rice is something my Asian taste buds would deem unwise...
I tried it as a kid and mom informed me it's not something to be done...she was right as the taste of plain white rice plus soy sauce was everything but good. Would never repeat.

Fried rice as I understood it would be "flavored" by the eggs, peas, salt, meats, etc while the rice was mostly white.

As for the smell, no serious answer, but fish always stink.

 

[nakedfrog]

Using soy sauce on rice is something my Asian taste buds would deem unwise...
I tried it as a kid and mom informed me it's not something to be done...she was right as the taste of plain white rice plus soy sauce was everything but good. Would never repeat.

Oh yeah? Well I say your mom is WRONG! Steamed rice tastes better with soy sauce than it does without.

 

[lxskllr]

I'll take my rice plain. Maybe some hot sauce every so often.

 

[nakedfrog]

Honestly, I'd just as soon not eat rice at all, it's basically just filler.

 

[manly]

Fish sauce is Vietnamese. The East Asian countries don't use it in cuisine AFAIK, and other countries near VN don't use it religiously. Fish sauce is pretty pungent, but I think there are other fermented products that pack a more odorous punch.

Oh yeah? Well I say your mom is WRONG! Steamed rice tastes better with soy sauce than it does without.

LOL many Asian American kids won't eat white rice without soy sauce. That's about the extent of "ethnic food" that you can get many young children to eat. Besides pizza of course.

Honestly, I'd just as soon not eat rice at all, it's basically just filler.

Blasphemy! If you're Asian, please surrender your racial ID card at the window.

 

[ElFenix]

Why does it smell like assholes when it's cooking?

exactly which part of the fish did you think they were using?

 

[Torn Mind]

LOL many Asian American kids won't eat white rice without soy sauce. That's about the extent of "ethnic food" that you can get many young children to eat. Besides pizza of course.

So I'm the unicorn Asian kid. Well, I'm proud to be one. Much rather have plain white rice and let the taste of the tender stir-fried cornstarch-coated meat(the cornstarch provides insulation to preserve tenderness) or braised pork belly(hong shao rou) make the flavor mix with the boring white rice in the mouth than ruin the dinner with salty soy sauce.

 

[ElFenix]

also, just so you know this isn't a stranger to european shores:

The very best garum, according to the Geoponica, is called haimatum. It was made with solely the innards of the tuna, including blood and gills. These are put in a pot with salt, and after two months the liquid is garum.

 

[MrSquished]

I keep a bottle of fish sauce in my pantry and it comes in handy. The smelly part is just the deliciousness seeping out.

 

[nakedfrog]

Fish sauce is Vietnamese. The East Asian countries don't use it in cuisine AFAIK, and other countries near VN don't use it religiously. Fish sauce is pretty pungent, but I think there are other fermented products that pack a more odorous punch.

My partner cooked in a Thai restaurant for a few years, and they used it in at least some of the recipes.

Blasphemy! If you're Asian, please surrender your racial ID card at the window.

If my 23andMe results are to be believed, I'm 0.0% Asian

The 0.6% African came as a bit of a surprise, though.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Fish swim in schools.

 

[lxskllr]

They also come in cans! Wait, what are we talking about?

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

^^ Getting sauced.

 

[sdifox]

I've been making a lot of fried rice lately. A lot of recipes include fish sauce.

I'm a huge fan of Worcestershire sauce and use it in cooking....often. It's made from fermented anchovies, onions, and garlic and the most traditional maker is Lea & Perrins....but many store brands have nailed the essence of the original. It has a very distinct smell. Fish sauce is also fermented anchovies, but it's less British. Cooking fried rice with Worcestershire sauce would yield something weird, so I buy fish sauce.

Lately, I'm using the Red Boat brand. I use a few tablespoons of it at the most because I'm sure it adds depth to the flavor as rice is bland and fried rice needs more than just soy sauce to flavor it. What I can't understand though is why fish sauce smells so terrible. It's not particularly fishy smelling. It just smells bad. Why does it smell like assholes when it's cooking?

It's rotten fish, what did you expect?

 

[sdifox]

Fish sauce is Vietnamese. The East Asian countries don't use it in cuisine AFAIK, and other countries near VN don't use it religiously. Fish sauce is pretty pungent, but I think there are other fermented products that pack a more odorous punch.


LOL many Asian American kids won't eat white rice without soy sauce. That's about the extent of "ethnic food" that you can get many young children to eat. Besides pizza of course.


Blasphemy! If you're Asian, please surrender your racial ID card at the window.

Different varieties of fish sauce exist in SE Asia from various countries.

Fish sauce - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

.

 

[ponyo]

I don't use fish sauce when I make fried rice. I do use type of fish sauce when I make kimchi, and I often add kimchi to the fried rice so I guess there is tiny amount of fish sauce.

Fish sauce is going to smell. Did you expect fermented fish to smell like roses?

 

[JEDI]

I've been making a lot of fried rice lately. A lot of recipes include fish sauce.

What I can't understand though is why fish sauce smells so terrible. It's not particularly fishy smelling. It just smells bad. Why does it smell like assholes when it's cooking?

yeah, it smells bad.
as i got older, i even stopped ordering foods that have it.
ie: Pad thai

 

[Scarpozzi]

yeah, it smells bad.
as i got older, i even stopped ordering foods that have it.
ie: Pad thai

I never cared for the whole peanut/sweet flavors. I'm not even really a fan of rice noodles. When I went for Thai food, I either got fried rice or a curry with mung bean noodles.

I only use a little bit of fish sauce and probably will continue to deal with the smell for the additional depth of flavor. Rather than soy sauce, I use tamari... And I use the minimum amount to flavor the rice. I still have to add salt after adding the Tamari.... I typically don't salt my food that much. My wife is always asking for the salt shaker when she eats my cooking.

3-4 cups of cooked rice and vegetables would get maybe four teaspoons of soy sauce or less. It would get maybe one teaspoon of fish sauce, but I've actually seen recipes that call for half of a teaspoon of the pungent stuff.

 

[Torn Mind]

Oyster sauce is milder if you feel like experimenting.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Oyster sauce is milder if you feel like experimenting.

I saw some recipes that called for it. How many give it a try when my fish sauce starts running low in another 10 years. 😜

 

[sdifox]

Oyster sauce is milder if you feel like experimenting.

Err that doesn't involves fermenting the seafood so it is completely different.

 

[sdifox]

I saw some recipes that called for it. How many give it a try when my fish sauce starts running low in another 10 years. 😜

Get some chinese broccoli, par boil in water with a bit of oil, then serve with oyster sauce.

 

[MrSquished]

Costco had this instant pho, and I would flavor it more with a few punches of fish sauce and soy sauce. That just added a nicer depth of flavor to the instant noodles.

Don't miss out on the fish sauce umami.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Costco had this instant pho, and I would flavor it more with a few punches of fish sauce and soy sauce. That just added a nicer depth of flavor to the instant noodles.

Don't miss out on the fish sauce umami.

I don't have a Costco near me, but that sounds good. I sometimes will use a few dashes of hot chili oil and diced green onion and cilantro mixed in beef ramen. I don't think I would be brave enough to add fish sauce.