Fish sauce

Fish sauce is a salty liquid seasoning created by coating fish or krill in salt and letting it ferment for up to two years. It serves as a fundamental ingredient in East Asian and Southeast Asian cooking, especially in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. In the West, similar sauces linked to Roman garum have been used since ancient times.

Because it adds a savory umami taste to food, fish sauce has gained popularity worldwide among both professional chefs and home cooks. This umami flavor comes from its glutamate content. It can be used to season dishes during or after cooking, or as a base for dipping sauces. In the West, soy sauce is sometimes considered a vegetarian substitute for fish sauce, though the two have very different flavors.

**History**

In Asia, sauces made from fermented fish parts mixed with other ingredients like meat and soybeans appeared in China around 2,300 years ago. During the Zhou dynasty, fish fermented with soybeans and salt was used as a condiment. By the Han dynasty, soybeans were fermented alone into soy paste and soy sauce, while fish-based sauces developed separately into fish sauce. A Hokkien Chinese term, *kôechiap*, may have been the precursor to ketchup; this word survives in Malay as *kecap* or *kicap*, though these now usually mean "soy sauce," while the fish version is called *kicap ikan*. By 50–100 BC, demand for fish sauces and pastes in China had dropped sharply, as fermented bean products became major trade goods. Fish sauce, however, grew extremely popular in Southeast Asia. Food scholars traditionally divide East Asia into two condiment regions: Southeast Asia using fermented fish (Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia) and Northeast Asia using fermented beans (China, Korea, Japan). Fish sauce re-entered China in the 17th and 18th centuries, brought from Vietnam and Cambodia by Chinese traders along the coasts of Guangdong and Fujian.

In Europe, fish sauces were common in ancient Mediterranean cooking. The earliest recorded production was by the Ancient Greeks between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, who fermented fish scraps called *garos* into a sauce believed to have had lower salt content than modern versions. The Romans made a similar condiment called *garum* or *liquamen*. Pliny the Elder described it as made from fish guts and other refuse, essentially a liquid from putrefaction. Roman garum was produced in Spain, almost exclusively from mackerel, by salting scrap fish innards and sun-fermenting them for several months. The brown liquid was strained, bottled, and sold. Remains of Roman fish salting facilities still exist in Algeciras, Spain, and near Setúbal, Portugal. The process continued until the 16th century, when makers switched to anchovies and removed the innards. Garum was widespread in Roman cooking, mixed with wine (*oenogarum*), vinegar (*oxygarum*), or honey (*meligarum*), and was a trade specialty of Hispania Baetica. It was often described as foul-smelling or rotten, and is considered similar to modern *colatura di alici*, a fish sauce used in Neapolitan cuisine. In English, garum was once translated as "fish pickle." The original Worcestershire sauce is related, as it is fermented and contains anchovies.

**Difference from oyster sauce**

Fish sauce and oyster sauce are both briny but distinct. Fish sauce is watery, clear, and salty, while oyster sauce is made by reducing oyster extracts, making it sweeter with a hint of salt and a less intense aroma.

**Ingredients and manufacture**

Historically, fish sauces were made from various fish and shellfish, using whole fish, blood, or viscera. Most modern versions contain only fish and salt, typically from anchovies, shrimp, mackerel, or other strong-flavored, oily fish. Some recipes add herbs and spices. Fish or shellfish are mixed with salt at a concentration of 10% to 30%, then sealed in a closed container for up to two years. After the first extraction, some sauces are produced by re-extracting the fish mass through boiling. To improve appearance and taste, second-pass sauces often include caramel, molasses, or roasted rice; they are thinner and cheaper. Some manufacturers also water down a first-press to increase volume. Briefly fermented fish sauce has a pronounced fishy taste, while longer fermentation reduces this and gives a nuttier, richer, more savory flavor. An 18th-century article in Diderot and d'Alembert's *Encyclopédie* noted that Europeans could become accustomed to this sauce.

**Regional variations**

Fish sauce is a fundamental condiment in Southeast Asian cuisines. Thai and Cambodian fish sauces are generally milder and less pungent than Vietnamese ones.

In Myanmar, fish sauce is called *ngan bya yay* and is often a by-product of *hmyin ngapi*, a Burmese fish paste made from small fish, anchovies, krill, and shrimp.

In Cambodia, fish sauce is called *tik trei* and, like *prahok*, is believed to date back to the pre-Angkor period.