How to make Thai Fish Sauce

In Thailand, there is no one who does not know the delicious taste of fish sauce. It is one of the seasonings commonly used by Thai people when cooking dishes.

The fish sauce is salty and delicious, with a slight fishy smell of fish and shrimp. Rich in calcium, iodine, protein, fat and other minerals, eating the same way as soy sauce.

The production of fish sauce in Thailand has a long history. The earliest consumption of fish sauce in Thailand began during the reign of Panale the Great (1656-1688). It is said that because there are many fish in Thailand, the price of many small fish is very low. Inexhaustible fish are often used to make fish sauce.

The fish that make fish sauce can be freshwater fish, refined shrimp or clam, or sea fish. Most commonly used are grouper and leaf fish. In the family, the method of making fish sauce is to mix a certain amount of fresh fish and salt according to the ratio of 3 ∶ 4 or 1 ∶ 2, this ratio is not limited to death, but there must be more salt than fish, so as to prevent the fish from rancidity. Mix the salt and fish, mix them well, and marinate them in an altar for three to four months. The fish shrinks and becomes soft and rotten, leaking light yellow water to fill the jar. Thais scoop out this yellow transparent liquid, which can be eaten immediately after filtering or steaming. This liquid is fish sauce. Because it is the original fish sauce, it tastes very delicious, which is very different from the taste of fish sauce sold on the market.

The fish sauce sold on the market is a large-scale modern production. In order to save manpower, material resources and capital, some factories often add chemicals to the fish to speed up the softness of the fish. Some add a lot of sea water to boil in order to get a lot of fish sauce at one time and make a high profit. This kind of fish sauce has low price and low nutritional value, which is far from the home-made one.