Fish Sauce

[torakris]

I use tiparos as well, actually I use it because snowangel recommended it way back when...

I prefer its flavor to all the other I have tried.

You can sort of compare it to soy sauce in Japan, almost every person in Jaapn will have a bottle of Kikkoman in their house. Though there are various brands this is by far the one preferred and it is quite cheap.

There are artisanal brands but they aren't really what I would consider expensive and few people would use them as their everyday soy sauce.

I see cheap as a good thing, especially if it tastes great.

[PCL]

In Australia, Squid brand from Thailand is popular and ubiquitous.

However, anything that says "Phuoc Luoc" exact spelling I will check, is pretty good. It's the Bordeaux of fish sauce areas in Vietnam. My wife and her parents swear by it as the cook's choice. To be used as condiment only, not to cook with as the flavour is like wow.

I don't see it myself, but there you go, my 2 cents worth.

And ned, like, you don't need to spend. Its wiser not to.

Really.

[NulloModo]

I've never seen fish sauce at $10, or even $5 a liter. At the all of the Asian groceries around here it sells for at most $2.50 a liter, most are like $1.50.

I am not sure what brand I have now, I can't remember the name, but the wrapper is yellow, and the logo is a red circle inside of a blue one I believe, I am happy with it, it is a lot better than the 'Ka-Me' brand crap I had bought at the regular grocery store before.

[baophac]

In the long term I'm not convinced that the snazzy local TV marketing campaigns of a company like Unilever is an altogether good thing for fish sauce variety on Phu Quoc. I imagine the smaller producers who are still around will eventually be priced out of the business. I'm no expert, but I reckon, even on Phu Quoc, there's a discernible taste difference between different producers. A difference I might not be able to notice, but something a lifelong user would know about and it's a difference that could be lost with any future Knorr monopoly.

My dad told me that Unilever is actually trying to protect the reputation of Phu Quoc and they worked out a deal where they would provide the equipment in exchange for a Knorr logo on each bottle. Supposedly the process is the same and Unilever has no say in changing the recipe or diversifying the product.

He also said that there were too many producers of fish sauce who would just put Phu Quoc on the label hoping people will buy the name. We checked our cupboard and found 3 different brands claiming to come from Phu Quoc :)

He's a reporter for Nguoi Viet Daily News but I don't know if it was his research or not.

[SuzySushi]

Okay, I just checked my fridge to see what brand I've been using and discovered that (horrors!!!) I used up my last bottle.

Soooo... what's the definitive if I want to buy a good brand of Thai OR Vietnamese clear fish sauce? I don't like Tiparos, which mostly comes bottled in plastic here (which I think does something to the flavor or keeping abilities). I've used Squid brand and Three Crabs brand. What other brands are reliable and exported to the USA? I have access to at least a dozen brands in the Asian markets here.

[trillium]

I like Tra Chang the best for what I can get at my grocery stores.

regards,

trillium

[Ben Hong]

I find that the Squid brand settles some residue after a few months in the cupboard. Three Crabs do not, maybe that's an indication that it's "brewed" rather than mixed. I do notice that Squid Brand has msg listed as an ingredient, whereas Three Crabs don't. Like soy sauces, the real good stuff do not settle out.

[ned]

I was chatting with a bahn mi technician the other day. It happened to be right around lunch time. We got to talking about fish sauce. He said a few valuable things. The order in which the fish sauce comes out of the vats or pools or whatever is of importance. Apparently the first layer--the bottom layer--is most prized and is indicated on bottles by the number one. I think I understood my new friend to say (my Vietnamese is EXTREMELY limited and the technician spoke with a heavy accent) that these bottles seldom make it to the states. The ratings go from one to ten.

Now as regards pricing. . . well sometime people don't get my humor and I guess that's my fault. The fact is that quality and price are often in direct proportion. Sometimes they aren't. In moments of ignorance, human beings will almost always assume that the thing with the bigger price tag is better. On the averages they'd be right. I have no interest whatsoever in paying a penny more for anything than is necessary. If the best artisinal fish sauce company would pay me to take one of their bottles, I'd jump to it.

As it is, I only know about fish sauce what I have the opportunity to taste and discover on the shelves of the grocery stores that I blunder into. It occurred to me one morning as I ate my Wheaties that maybe in Thailand and Vietnam and wherever else they produce the stuff, fish sauce is like balsamic vinegar. That there are gallons and gallons of it made for everyday use but there is also a grade--like balsamico--so precious, so delicious so rare that people are willing to pay a few more bucks for it. Until I went to Italy I didn't know for example that there is 100 year aged balsamic vinegar that people drink straight. I want to taste that. And I want to taste its equivalent in the realm of fish sauce if indeed it exists.

As we moved into talking about the differences in Maggis produced in different countries and I started to anticipate the immanent burn from fresh chilis on my sandwich, the technician wrote me the name of some fish sauce to look out for. Especially if the bottle that reads as he wrote on the note and has the number one on it. He assured me that the bottle would be small and the price tag big. Here's what he wrote:

Edited April 15, 2005 by ned (log)

[Hugh]

Recently, I have been trying different kinds of fish sauce to see how much of a difference it makes. When I talk to people who use it every day their opinion on the best fish sauce seems to be an almost religious matter, like the choice of operating system. I started with the very cheap, Lucky (less than a dollar Canadian) have tried the baby brand (don't know the real name, just has the fat smiling baby on the front holding the bottle of sauce), working through a bottle of Thai stuff that has a squid on it (very salty) and am going to try the 3 crab brand next (5 dollars a bottle!)

There appears to be several other brands on the market and I am wondering which one is preferred out there on eGullet?

[rarerollingobject]

Recently, I have been trying different kinds of fish sauce to see how much of a difference it makes. When I talk to people who use it every day their opinion on the best fish sauce seems to be an almost religious matter, like the choice of operating system. I started with the very cheap, Lucky (less than a dollar Canadian) have tried the baby brand (don't know the real name, just has the fat smiling baby on the front holding the bottle of sauce), working through a bottle of Thai stuff  that has a squid on it (very salty) and am going to try the 3 crab brand next (5 dollars a bottle!)

There appears to be several other brands on the market and I am wondering which one is preferred out there on eGullet?

←

The best in my opinion is Viet Huong (Three Crabs brand); though foodmiles-wise, am a little freaked out that my bottle says it's produced in Thailand, processed in Hong Kong, and distributed from the US - and purchased by me in Sydney!

It's much less salty than Squid brand and is wonderfully caramelly and umami-er.

The other best one IMO is the one with white pigeons on the label; I think it's a Phu Quoc based manufacturer - Phu Quoc being the island on which the premium Vietnamese fish sauce is supposedly produced.

Edited December 28, 2007 by rarerollingobject (log)

[heidih]

I use the 3 Crabs as my regular one although I know it is processed and has additives. It just seems to work for me both in cooked and uncooked preps. It is also the brand my Vietnamese born good cook friend uses. I have never really experimented and probably should. My local Viet market gave away small bottles of a sauce one year that was really lovely (mellow and almost creamy?) but they did not continue to stock it so I know there are lots of options.

[Pierogi]

I took a Thai cooking class many years ago, and the instructor recommended "Tiparose" (maybe Tiparos??) brand. Easily found in SoCal, only problem is it comes in like quart size bottles and I don't use that much, so it gets ummmmm........*funkier*.......than you would like after a while.

But I do prefer it to the other stuff I can find. I just end up ditching a lot of it. If you use it more frequently than I do, or have more space in your fridge (!!) then I'd say this is my prefered brand. Right now I have some (very embarrassed to say....) Thai Kitchen brand in the fridge, solely because it comes in a more reasonable size bottle.

[CommissionerLin]

I took a Thai cooking class many years ago, and the instructor recommended "Tiparose" (maybe Tiparos??) brand.  Easily found in SoCal, only problem is it comes in like quart size bottles and I don't use that much, so it gets ummmmm........*funkier*.......than you would like after a while.

←

Yes it is Tiparos aka Tang Sang Hah Co. Ltd. reputed to be Thailand's largest producer of fish sauce (nam pla).

My personal favourite is Golden Boy produced by Tang Heah Seng Co. Ltd.

The best in my opinion is Viet Huong (Three Crabs brand); though foodmiles-wise, am a little freaked out that my bottle says it's produced in Thailand, processed in Hong Kong, and distributed from the US - and purchased by me in Sydney!

I tend to avoid this brand precisely because the label proclaims that it's processed in Hong Kong. Fish sauce is made by fermenting a mixture of fish and salt in a large urn. If done properly/authentically the process can take up to 12 months. Given that rents in Hong Kong are astronomical compared to retlatively inexpensive Thailand, it would not make much economic sense to have the fermentation done in Hong Kong unless the fermentation process is speeded up artificially using enzymes and other additives. Fish sauce on steroids? A look at the list of ingredients on the label shows up other extraneous ingredients apart from fish, salt and sugar.

[iii_bake]

The Three crabs one sounds like Vietnamese Fish Sauce to me.

Vietnamese and Thai fish sauce are different. So if you cook Thai i would recommend using Thai Brand as it has distinctive fragrance.

I use Tipparos and Scale brand ( This one is used by my grandmother..the logo is the Traditional Scale).

There are a few new brands launched lately in Thailand. One is Megachef. Quite nice.

If the brand i like is not available, i then choose the one with the least salt content.

[Adam Balic]

I like "COCK (on the mountian top) brand" and Tra Chung for their clear fish flavour, but mostly use Squid brand as this is more common. I'm not tempted by Three Crabs given the ingredient list, but I also haven't tried it.

[BarbaraY]

I use the Tiparos brand as that's the only one available here without a major trip.

A bottle tipped over in the restaurant pantry once and I went looking for a dead mouse.

How can something that funky taste so good?

Edited December 28, 2007 by BarbaraY (log)

[petite tête de chou]

Tiparos user here, too. Good stuff BUT that yellow lid is hellishly cranky to open and close. And when it finally does reluctantly snap closed, tiny droplets of pure stink are all over the counter. Such suffering I endure for my rotten fish gut juice.

[Katie Meadow]

Sounds like it matters what type of cooking you are doing. I received "Into the Vietnamese Kitchen" for xmas, a book highly recommended by eGers on the Vietnamese cooking thread. The author says that it is uncommon to find fish sauce imported directly from Vietnam; most comes from Thailand. She says that some brands, such as 3 Crabs and Flying Lion, which she likes, are in the "style" of Vietnamese fish sauce: less heavy or salty than traditional Thai fish sauce and they often will use the Phu Quoc designation despite the fact that they are not made there.

She suggests looking for labels that include the words "cot, nhi or thuong hang", which indicates a premium product made with the first extraction of liquids; that would be lighter in color and more delicate. She also says that if you see the words "ca com" you are getting sauce made from anchovies local to Phu Quoc, which is desirable; I assume the bottle should specify imported from Vietnam if this is the case. I am sure the regulars on the Vietnamese thread could weigh in with more info.

[Hugh]

I think I will definitely have to try both the 3 crabs and Flying Lion even if they are produced outside of Vietnam.

My wife is Japanese and considers the use of any type of Chinese soy sauce in Japanese cooking to be an offense worthy of a lynching. I would imagine that there are Vietnamese and Thai cooks who feel the same way about their respective fish sauces.

[insomniac]

I avoid the 3 Crabs sauce because it is a processed, flavour-added sauce rather than a naturally fermented one..... fructose and hydrolysed wheat protein have been added to hurry up the fermentation process by way of hydrolysis (which seems to have taken place in HK rather than Thailand, hmmmm )... way too chemical....

I personally prefer Golden Boy, Tra Chang or Squid in that order....a superlative fish sauce takes time to ferment and is a reasonably expensive, age-old process for good reason.

[Hugh]

I was perusing the fish sauce section of one of the local super markets and they had Rufina Patis from the Phillipines.

Any opinion on how this compares to Thai fish sauce?

It seems to be free of the chemical nastiness in the Three Crab brand.

[johnder]

Tiparos here. I switched from 3 crabs a while back and never looked back.

[CommissionerLin]

My wife is Japanese and considers the use of any type of Chinese soy sauce in Japanese cooking to be an offense worthy of a lynching. I would imagine that there are Vietnamese and Thai cooks who feel the same way about their respective fish sauces.

←

Funny my wife's like that also. No cross-over of any kind is allowed or tolerated. Thus in my, no, her kitchen, there are 3 types of Japanese soya sauce (shoyu) no, make that 4 - just remembered the super premium version for sashimi and 5 (count carefully) types of "Chinese-styled" soya sauce ranging from super light to the dark treacle that I am sure could be used for road-making if one ran out of tar.

Add to that the myriad chillie sauces, 7 at last count, including 2 different types of tabasco (1 green, 1 red), 4 different kinds of mustard, 5 if you count wasabi as mustard (surely at the risk of another lynching), and a host of other sauces and concentrates (3 for dashi stock alone) and I reckon my wife is the leading candidate for recruitment into the Saucemakers' Association Hall of Fame - Lifetime Acheivement Award.

[C. sapidus]

Golden Boy and Tra Chang are our favorites. We have used Three Crabs, and it tastes just fine – perhaps more mellow than the others. I will try Tiparos next, because it has far less salt than Golden Boy. Less salt means more funky fermented fish flavor without oversalting.

[prasantrin]

My mother is Filipino and my father Thai, so we have been exposed to both Filipino and Thai fish sauces. My dad didn't like using patis at all. It was too salty, and didn't have much flavour. Thai fish sauce added another nuance to food, while Filipino fish sauce just added salt, and a lot of it.

His first choice was always Golden Boy, and his second choice was the one with the squid on it. In Winnipeg, however, we didn't have a huge variety to choose from, so it doesn't mean those are the best available.