12:14 AM 3/20/98
fred towner rfc

Title: Fish Sauce (Information)
Keywords: text

      The profusion of fish sauce can be a bit confusing. In general,
the lighter colored ones seem to be better--more subtly flavored and
less salty. I just found an excellent one the other day (at Safeway of
all places) called "Shrimp Sauce". There's a picture of a shrimp on the
label. The label is a bit confusing. The Vietnamese and English on the
label call it fish sauce (nuoc mam) but the ingredients are listed as
water, shrimp and salt. Unfortunately I can't read the Thai or Chinese
on the label, but it has the symbol of "First Grade Quality" from the
Thai Indus- trial Standard Institute. At any rate, it's good stuff.
Here's a little discourse on fish sauce from "The Classic Cuisine of
Vietnam" by Bach Ngo and Gloria Zimmerman.

      "Fish sauce is to Vietnamese cooking what salt is to Western and
soy sauce to Chinese cooking. It is included in practically all recipes.
Prepared from fresh anchovies and salt, layered in huge wooden barrels,
the manufacture of fish sauce is a major industry. The factories are
located along the coast to assure the freshness of the fish to be
processed. Fermentation is started once a year, during the fishing
season. After about 3 months in the barrel, liquid drips from an open
spigot, to be poured back into the top of the barrel. After about 6
months the fish sauce is produced.

      The first draining is the very best fish sauce, lighter in color
and perfectly clear. It is relatively expensive and is reserved for
table use. The second and third drainings yield a fish sauce of lower
quality and lower cost fro general-purpose cooking. The two towns most
noted for their fish sauce are Phi Quoc and Phan Thiet. Phu Quoc
produces the best fish sauce, some of which is exported. On the label,
the work "nhi" signifies the highest quality. When fish sauce
manufactured in Vietnam is not available, that of Thailand or Hong Kong
is quite acceptable. Philippine or Chinese fish sauce will not be
satisfactory. For table use and available in all Oriental groceries is
Squid Brand Fish Sauce, the best one on the market. Whatever the brand,
look for "Ca Com" on the label, which means that only anchovies were
used--an indication of the highest quality for table use."

      In the following post, another author presents more info, some a
bit contradictory to the above.

     This is from "The Foods of Vietnam" by Nicole Routhier.

      "...It enhances and blends so subtly with other flavors that one
can barely detect its presence."

      "Like olive oil and good wine, there are different grades of fish
sauce. The very best fish sauce is obtained from the first drainage. The
resulting liquid is amber in color, very dark and usually expensive. If
you see the words "nhi" or "thuong hang" on a label, it means that the
fish sauce of of the highest quality. This type of fish sauce is usually
reserved for table use. Sec- ond-grade nuoc mam, cheaper and intended
for all-purpose cooking, is made by adding water and pressing the fish
after the first- quality sauce has been extracted. The resulting liquid
is light and very clear."

      "Fish sauce (nuoc mam): Nuoc mam is like Thai "nam pla" but
stronger..."Squid" and "Ruang Tong" brands are widely available,
bottled, in Oriental markets and some supermarkets..."

      So there it is. Ya pays yer money and yer takes yer chances... I
doubt if you'll find any Vietnamese fish sauce, considering the embargo,
but the Thai nuoc mam is supposed to be as good. In fact, I'll go out on
a limb and say that, considering the fact that Thailand is just around
the corner from Vietnam and has a lot of Vietnamese living there, that
the differences would be undetectable. I'd get a bottle of light stuff
and a bottle of the darker stuff (Tiparos brand comes to mind) and play
around with them. At one time I had five different brands on the shelf.
The stuff's pretty cheap and none of it was what I'd consider inferior.

     Now you know as much about fish sauce as I do...

-End Recipe Export- From the recipe collection of Fred Towner
-Begin Recipe Export- QBook version 1.00.14

Title: Fish Sauce (Nuoc Cham Dipping Sauce)
Keywords: sauce, fish

NUOC CHAM DIPPING SAUCE
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
This indispensable dipping sauce is served with every Vietnamese
meal.

(Makes about 2 1/2 cups)

1 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper
1 table spoon distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup fish sauce (nuoc mam (Available at Asian Markets))
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 small carrot-finely shredded, rinsed and squeezed dry
2 small garlic cloved, minced
1/2 cup sugar

1) In a small dish, soak the hot pepper in the vinegar for 2 minutes.

2) In a small bowl, combine the fish sauce, lime juice, carrot, garlic
and sugar.  Stir in 1 1/2 cups warm watter and the hot pepper-vinegar
mixture. Stir until the sugar dissolved.  Serve at room temperature.
Store the sauce ina jar in the refrigerator for up to 30 days.

-End Recipe Export- From the recipe collection of Fred Towner



