Fish Sauce: Nam Pla and Nước Mắm, Uses and Substitute

Flavor: pungent in the bottle, round in the food

Straight from the bottle, fish sauce smells strongly of fish and sea. In the finished dish, that smell almost completely disappears. What remains is salt and a deep, savory taste that the Japanese call umami. You do not taste a teaspoon in broth, curry or dressing as fish, but you miss it as soon as you leave it out.

Good fish sauce tastes salty, then slightly sweet, with a long finish. Cheap brands often taste flatter and sharper with salt.

Production and names

Makers layer fresh anchovies with plenty of salt in large barrels of wood, clay or concrete and let them mature there for one to two years. Enzymes from the fish break down the protein, and a brine forms. The liquid drawn off first is considered the best, and later draws are thinner. The Romans knew a comparable seasoning in garum.

• Thailand: nam pla (น้ำปลา), lighter and slightly milder.
• Vietnam: nước mắm. Well-known places of origin are the island of Phú Quốc and Phan Thiết. Phú Quốc has a protected designation of origin in the EU.
• Cambodia: tuk trey (ទឹកត្រី).
• Philippines: patis.
• Myanmar: ngan bya yay.

How to recognize good fish sauce

• Short ingredient list: anchovies and salt, sometimes a little sugar. Hydrolyzed protein, flavor enhancers, fructose syrup or colorings point to a stretched sauce.
• Protein rating: Vietnamese bottles often state a value in degrees N, for example 30°N or 40°N. It gives the nitrogen content. The higher the number, the more protein from the fish and the stronger the flavor.
• Color: clear and reddish-brown like tea. Cloudy sauce is old or poorly filtered.

Uses in the kitchen

Add fish sauce wherever you would otherwise add salt: in dressings, dips, marinades, broths and stir-fries. A splash is often enough, so taste twice.

• Dips: For nước chấm, stir 1 part fish sauce, 1 part lime juice, 1 part sugar and 2 to 4 parts water with garlic and chili. A similar dip from Cambodia is teuk trey. For nam pla prik, fish sauce with chopped Thai chili and a little lime is enough.
• Salads: Som tam and laab gai live on fish sauce, lime and chili.
• Noodles: In pad Thai, it forms the sauce with tamarind and palm sugar. You season the phở broth with it at the end.
• Grilling and frying: Bún chả marinates the pork in fish sauce, and mực chiên nước mắm glazes fried squid with it.
• Braising: For cá kho tộ, you braise fish in caramel and fish sauce.

You find more dishes where fish sauce sets the tone under Vietnam street food.

Substitute and vegan alternative

Light soy sauce with a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lime replaces fish sauce 1:1. It matches the salt and savoriness, but the sea aroma is missing. Two finely mashed anchovy fillets from a jar in a tablespoon of soy sauce come closer to the original.

For a vegan fish sauce, simmer 250 ml water with a piece of kombu about 10 cm long, 3 dried shiitake, 3 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp sugar for 15 minutes. Strain and let it cool. A piece of nori adds more sea flavor. The sauce keeps about one to two weeks in the fridge. Kombu contains a lot of iodine. Ready-made vegan fish sauces based on soy or seaweed are sold at an Asian grocery store and online.

Buying, storing, allergens

You find fish sauce on the Asian shelf of many supermarkets. The larger selection with Thai and Vietnamese brands is at an Asian grocery store, and you can also get it online. Buy a small bottle to start.

After opening, store fish sauce cool and dark, in the cupboard or in the fridge. Salt protects it from spoiling, and it keeps for many months. Over time it gets darker and stronger in flavor. Salt crystals at the bottom of the bottle are normal.

Fish sauce contains fish. Some brands also contain crustaceans or wheat, so read the ingredient list if you have allergies.