Fish Sauce
Fish sauce is a salty, intensely savory liquid made by fermenting fish -- usually anchovies -- with salt, forming the umami backbone of much of Southeast Asian cooking.
How to buy
Look for brands with a short ingredient list, just fish and salt, and a deep amber-brown color; three-crab and squid-brand bottles from Thailand and Vietnam are well-regarded references. Darker, more opaque sauces usually signal a longer, richer fermentation, while very cheap sauces are often diluted with water or sugar.
How to store
Fish sauce keeps indefinitely in a cool pantry thanks to its high salt content, though flavor is best within a year or two of opening. Refrigeration isn't necessary but can slow flavor drift; darkening over time is normal and not a sign of spoilage.
Culinary profile
- Flavor
- Intensely salty and savory with a deep umami punch; eaten straight it tastes sharply fishy, but cooked into a dish it melts into the background as seasoning rather than a distinct fish flavor.
- Texture
- Thin, watery, and pourable, similar in body to soy sauce.
- Aroma
- Pungent and distinctly fishy raw, a smell that mellows considerably once the sauce is cooked into a dish.
How to prepare
- Used raw — Mixed into uncooked dipping sauces like nuoc cham for a direct, salty punch.
- Cooked into braises and stir-fries — Added early so the raw fishy edge cooks off into savory depth.
- Marinades — Combined with sugar, lime, and chile to season meat or seafood before cooking.
- Finished at the table — A few drops splashed directly onto soups or noodles for an extra hit of umami.
Classic dishes
Thai
- Pad thai — Stir-fried rice noodles seasoned with fish sauce, tamarind, and palm sugar.
- Som tam — A spicy green papaya salad dressed with fish sauce, lime, and chile.
- Larb — A minced meat salad seasoned with fish sauce, lime, and toasted rice powder.
- Tom yum — A hot and sour soup balanced with fish sauce alongside chile, lime, and herbs.
- Khao soi — A coconut curry noodle soup seasoned in part with fish sauce.
- Green curry — A coconut-based curry paste dish seasoned with fish sauce rather than salt.
Korean
- Kimchi — Fermented cabbage often seasoned with fish sauce for added umami during fermentation.
Vietnamese
- Nuoc cham — A sweet, sour, salty dipping sauce built on fish sauce, lime, and chile.
- Pho — A beef or chicken noodle soup whose broth gets its savory depth from fish sauce.
- Thit kho — Pork braised in a caramel and fish sauce sauce until deeply savory and glossy.
- Bun cha — Grilled pork served over noodles with a fish sauce-based dipping broth.
- Banh xeo dipping sauce — A fish sauce-based dip served alongside crispy Vietnamese savory crepes.
- Ca kho — Fish braised in a sweet-savory caramel and fish sauce glaze.
Filipino
- Chicken adobo — A braise of chicken in vinegar, soy, and sometimes fish sauce for extra umami.
- Pancit — Stir-fried noodles often seasoned with patis, the Filipino name for fish sauce.
- Sinigang — A sour tamarind soup rounded out with fish sauce for savory depth.
Substitutions
- Worcestershire Sauce — A reasonable umami stand-in in a pinch, though it tastes sweeter and more spiced; use about the same amount and adjust salt.