Ultimate Guide to FISH SAUCE - Hot Thai Kitchen

Yup, I tasted fish sauce straight up, just for you :)

Fish sauce is my favourite seasoning in the kitchen, and arguably the most important ingredient in a Thai kitchen! Fish sauce is used in almost all of my recipes, it is indeed our equivalent of salt in the Western kitchen. However, what's a good brand to choose? Are the expensive ones worth it? How should you store it? How can I substitute it? And...What exactly IS fish sauce anyway??

All of these questions, my friends, will be answered in this video. I hope you enjoy it!

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About Pai:

Pailin “Pai” Chongchitnant is the author of the Hot Thai Kitchen cookbook, co-host of a Canadian TV series One World Kitchen on Gusto TV, and creator and host of the YouTube channel Pailin's Kitchen.

Pai was born and raised in southern Thailand where she spent much of her "playtime" in the kitchen. She traveled to Canada to study Nutritional Sciences at the University of British Columbia, and was later trained as a chef at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in San Francisco.

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[PailinsKitchen]

HELLO LOVELY VIEWERS! Important Note:

If you have questions about this video, you can post it here for the community to answer. But if you want to ask me, please get in touch via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or my website (all links are in the description above). If you leave questions in the comments I may not see them due to the large volume of comments I receive across the hundreds of videos on this channel.

Thank you for watching!

[craigrosen]

Wow! What a difference! My wife and I have been making your recipes for years and have been using the Lucky brand you showed (or something similar). We just bought the 3 crabs brand and it is so much better. Like a nice wine compared with vinegar. We are one of your Patreon members. Currently live in US and planning to retire in Thailand in a year or two. Actually heading to Bangkok for a week of eating in 3 weeks. Can't wait! Thanks for all your great advice and recipes. Everything we make tastes amazing and authentic.

[tw]

The lady is a natural born teacher and an excellent communicator.

[abefrohman]

Fish sauce works in almost any soup. It makes a great dipping sauce. I add it to meatloaf. Vietnam got me addicted to it and Korea hooked me on kimchi.

[GangstaSaxobeat]

Just a little fun fact and/or tip: Look on the bottle and if you see the words "Nước Mắm Nhĩ" it's probably the best kind to use. Nước Mắm Nhĩ literally means "Dripping Fish Sauce" and it refers to the fact that the stuff inside the first batch of liquid oozes out of the fish fermentation tank, or first press like Pai says. Or you can also look for the words "Phú Quốc" and that's the name of the island where fish sauce is mainly produced in Vietnam and it has high quality. I use Red Boat fish sauce for marinate, dipping sauce, serve with steamed or pan-fried fish. It's the best brand I could find in N. American so far.

[kidgokuxl]

My wife is Vietnamese and she borders on connoisseur and obsession with fish sauce. Oh yes theirs a bottle of 3 Crabs in our pantry right next to other types I can't read. She makes her nuk mam all the time. It was fish sauce and mam nem that made her think I was an OK guy since I've been eating them for a long time. That was twenty five years ago, guess I passed the test.

[FrankMac]

I cannot believe one of the major communication networks haven't picked up your YouTube presence and converted it to a streaming service under their mantle. What a pleasure to watch, listen and learn.

[purawngailocano]

That pla ra is used in Ilocano (a Filipino subculture) dishes too. We call it boguong nga munamon. Boguong is a general term for fermented pastes and munamon is anchovies. We also have boguong nga aramang which is shrimp paste. My mom said that the pla ra is actually the paste at the bottom of the fish sauce before the fish sauce is extracted.

[LazyCookPete]

Thanks Pai for lifting the lid on the mysteries of fish sauce. I always add a dash of fish sauce to my lamb or mutton stews, to give them another flavour dimension. It really improves the flavour of lamb and mutton. I used to add Gentleman's Relish or Patum Peperium, an English condiment also made from anchovies.The thick fish sauce in this video is more like I imagine garum to have been. Garum was a highly prized Roman condiment made from fermented anchovies, and many records of its trade exist today.

[ivyhays]

I made my own fish sauce, it took a whole year but so worth it. The extra virgin is use for simple sauce, the 50% is for seasoning.

[Maiasatara]

I broke my rule and let a grocer pick a fish sauce for me yesterday before I did the research. He told me Squid brand was very popular. Then I got home and discovered almost everyone HATES it. Until you, lol. I was going to return it but the good Asian market where I bought it is 30 minutes away so for $2.50 I may just suck it up and keep it in the pantry but swing by Whole Foods for some Red Boat. It's not that I don't trust you (I'm new to you today) but rather that I DO trust America's Test Kitchen who has never steered me in a bad direction. Ultimately everyone's palate is different and SOMEONE must be buying Squid brand because it's everywhere. Thanks for the video!

[christinatolar]

Fish sauce took my meatloaf to a whole other level. I use it whenever I can. Super helpful video.

[tinjazv]

Three Crabs is my favorite brand. I use it for everything!!!! They run for $4-5 a bottle here at the local Asian grocery store. LOVE IT!

[dberry]

I would like to see you do a similar test with oyster sauce.

[skatingcanuck]

I love how you showed us your recommendations and also took the time to explain your non-recommendations that we should steer clear of.

[jameskoenig]

Red boat fish sauce and woman in the boat oyster sauce. Thank you so much for both of these. You’re awesome

[bawoman]

I bought a bottle of the stuff, and honestly I cannot stop using it in everything now. It's like salt and soy sauce but times better. more richer, more umami'd flavor. I am IN LOVE.

[mushroommagic]

You seem to be down on MSG, but anything "hydrolyzed" is also MSG, also anything with the suffix "protein" or "yeast" is MSG. There are like 40 different names for MSG depending on where it is extracted from. Once you learn the different names for MSG you will see that it is in pretty much everything. And that's totally fine. It tastes good, and it's no less healthy than salt, just eat in moderation.

[linhdang]

I am Vietnamese and live in Germany. I am not even knowledgable about fish sauce as you. In Vietnam, we use fish sauce almost in every dishes. I feel a little bit closed with Thai people as I find out that we all love fish sauce ( other countries like Cambodia as well ). Love you and your channel Pailin :)

[RaphCocson]

Awesome review of different fish sauce brands Pai! Thais and Filipinos really do share the same love for fish sauce or "patis". That "not" fish sauce you showed is also known in the Philippines as "bagoong" used in a lot of vegetable stews and soups, or as dipping sauce for green mangoes.