Best Brands of Sake, Mirin, and Fish Sauce to Cook with?

[torolover]

What is the best brand of Sake, Mirin, and Fish sauce to use for cooking Asian cuisine?

I read that using good Sake is not good for cooking. I also read most Mirin, is not really good Mirin.

Thanks everyone!

[Hassouni]

I use hon-mirin, or mirin actually made from alcohol. It'll say on the label, if it's basic ingredients like rice wine, sugar, etc, you're good. If there's no trace of alcohol/wine/whatever, and funky sounding stuff, stay away.

As for sake, I used to use Mizukan cooking sake, but lately I've just been buying the cheapest decent drinking sake I can find, in small (150ml or so) bottles, replacing as needed. Its only $5 or so per bottle, and it lasts a month at least. I think it's a worthwhile upgrade.

Fish sauce- there's Thai style, Viet style, and presumably others. I go for Thai style, Trachang or Golden Boy

[Joe Blowe]

Try to track down Red Boat Fish Sauce -- it's very good, very pungent, and the only ingredients are anchovies and salt.

[KD1191]

Try to track down Red Boat Fish Sauce -- it's very good, very pungent, and the only ingredients are anchovies and salt.

Seconded...since visiting Phu Quoc, it's the only fish sauce I use. It's a bit more expensive, but it's worth it when you consider all the fillers/additives in other products.

[mgaretz]

I'll have to look for Red Boat, but meanwhile I've been happy with Squid brand.

[ChrisTaylor]

Squid is my go-to, too. Sold at all the supermarkets and everywhere else. Points for accessibility.

[Shel_B]

Wonderful to learn about Red Boat ... even more wonderful to discoverit's available in numerous local sops, many of them on my usual routes! Gotta give it a try.

[nickrey]

I don't know if you can get it where you are but David Thompson (Nahm) recommends using Megachef fish sauce.

[patrickamory]

Fish sauce: taste, region and recipe all play a role here.

I used to use Golden Boy, Kamsa Loha-unchit's recommendation. Rich, skanky and dark.

I then switched to Squid, much more commonly available, a bit more subtle and refined to my taste.

However... someone recently gave me some Red Boat, recommended by Joe Blowe and KD1191 above. It's superlative. It's actually so delicious I could drink it straight from the bottle.

The person who gave it to me suggested that it's like some extra-virgin olive oils that you would use on salads... it's more for finishing a dish, or perhaps preparing a nahm pla prik, than for cooking. However I used it in the recipe for chicken with lemongrass posted by hrtz8w, and that was delicious... now I'm not saying I've DBT'd it against Golden Boy or Squid in cooked dishes, but there you go. Another major vote for Red Boat (and yes, it's much more expensive, if you can find it. But man is it good.)

I believe David Thompson includes instructions on making your own fish sauce btw...

[nickrey]

Yep, first catch the anchovies...

With the time involved in fermenting and the aromatic nature of the raw materials, I'm content to leave this one to the experts.

[jmolinari]

Red Boat is awesome stuff. It's about 4x the cost of squid, but worth it, especially for dipping sauces. It seems much "thicker"