Home Potato How to cook sausage and cheese casserole. Cooking potato casserole with sausage. With smoked sausage

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How to cook sausage and cheese casserole. Cooking potato casserole with sausage. With smoked sausage

“My wife once bought a package of small salted fish. It was written on the package as Ancient Rome from such a fish they made garum sauce. It got me interested. What is called, torknulo. And I decided to cook it.

I love fish, my family eats a lot of fish, especially in fasting, and fish is a very waste product. Sometimes heads, fins and giblets occupy up to 30% of the carcass, so there were no problems with raw materials. I looked for a recipe on the Internet, found it in references to the Roman writer Gargilius Martial. I also realized that in reality no one did it in Russia, there are continuous theoretical reprints on the net.

If you buy right amount fish or get a lot of raw fish waste, garum can be done right away. From 35 kg of fish (or waste), you can end up with 8–9 liters of garum.

I don't have a fish factory, I wasn't ready to make garum, so I started collecting raw fish waste gradually from the end of October. He put them in a 36-liter tank of of stainless steel who stood on an unheated veranda. What I collected: fins, tails, heads, giblets from herring, mackerel, pollock and pike. In no case should you put heat-treated fish in garum, this is important important point. Another important detail: the more offal, the better the garum will be prepared, because this sauce is not a product of rotting or fermentation, as some foolishly write, but a fermentation product of fish protein. The enzymes contained in the tissues of the fish and, of course, in the offal (bile, for example), begin to gradually destroy the protein, from which the sauce becomes liquid, more precisely, puree.

If you live in an apartment, then fish waste can be stored in the freezer or on the balcony until the right amount is collected. Each time I put the fish in a jar, I sprinkled it with coarse salt at the rate of 1 part of salt per 8 parts of fish. Garum salt cannot be spoiled if there is more of it, the sauce will simply be saltier at the exit and it can be added to food in smaller quantities. Actually, thanks to salt, the fish is preserved and does not rot in the summer even under the Spanish sun.

By the end of April, half of the flask turned out, I had to add more fish. I bought several kilograms of capelin, pollock and blue whiting. Relatives brought half a bag of bream. On the Ob, bream is considered a second-rate fish, and if they come across, they are either thrown away or used for fertilizer: they bury them when planting pepper or tomato under a bush; no mullein is needed, the vegetable grows beautifully! I chopped the bream into pieces and put it in a tank, where I sent the purchased fish. Then spices and dried herbs: a few packs of Herbes de Provence, bought sage and mint at the pharmacy. And I had a pound of my dried set of dill, parsley, cilantro. I also added a few packets of lavrushka, coriander, black peppercorns and allspice.

(Garum does not need to be cooked only from river fish. And certainly not from one ide. Once my friends brought me a lot of ide and roach. He dried the roach, put the ide on cutlets and dumplings. From the raw remains of all this, I prepared my second garum, the taste of which I did not really like. The ide has a specific taste, and it has passed into the sauce. In the garum, there should definitely be mackerel and capelin, each of these fish is at least 15% of the total mass.)

At the end of April, the tank moved to the greenhouse. Fermentation begins when the mass is heated to a temperature above 20 degrees. A kitchen and a central heating battery will also do; Spanish heat, as it turned out, is not necessary for garum. By June 1, the fish pieces began to clearly and strongly soften. About a week bubbles appeared in the raw material, it was probably carbon dioxide from glycogen fermentation. In addition, the raw material has slightly increased in volume: therefore, when filling the container with fish, you need to leave at least 20 cm to the edge so that the garum does not crawl out.

Internet stories that a wild stench begins when cooking garum are nonsense. If you do everything right, then there is no rotting. When the garum stood in a greenhouse, even flies did not fly there, it smelled only next to the flask - fish with spices. The second time I made garum was in September, while the flask stood in the kitchen near the stove for two months, and none of the guests even knew that there was fish in the flask!

By mid-July, the contents of the flask turned into a puree-like mass; it makes no sense to keep raw materials for more than two months. I filtered the mass, and it turned out about 16 liters of primary garum - a brown puree-like mass with a fish-spicy smell. Next, I poured this mass into three-liter jars and put it in the cold in the cellar (you can also in the refrigerator) for six months.

At first I thought that this puree was garum (there is no word about this on the Internet). But it's not. In the cold, stratification begins: what was called chalex in Rome rose up - a dense mixture of proteins and fat, and a transparent liquid of light brown color remained below. This is the garum. I carefully pushed a thin tube through the chalex and carefully drained the garum. Since there were no Roman legionnaires, slaves and poor around me, I did not sell the remaining chalex to them, but sent it to the compost heap (good fertilizer, by the way). Formally, chalex is edible, but it quickly begins to taste bitter (oxidizes fish fat), and also gives the food a painfully strong aftertaste of fish. For Roman slaves, it may have been suitable, but for free Russians it is better to use only garum.

So the sauce was ready. I tried it raw: the aftertaste is like after a good dried fish, with a subtle flavor of spices. Garum, when properly prepared and salted, is unequivocally harmless even in its raw form, it can be stored for years in a cool place without special preservatives.

The sauce is not difficult to make and is a fun activity. The problem is different: in Russian and in most modern European cuisines, there are very few dishes for this sauce: buckwheat porridge or vegetable stew with a fishy aftertaste in the post is still an amateur. And Russians have not yet been accustomed to Vietnamese and other Asian cuisines, where such sauces are actively used.

I once fried horsemeat with garum; I didn't add any salt, just the sauce. While the meat is hot, the smell of fish is not felt; and tasty. But as soon as the meat cools down, the fried horse meat has a clear fishy taste.

Therefore, the only place where you can safely use it is salting fish intended for frying and smoking.

We cleaned the crucians, left them for 15 minutes in the sauce, rolled in flour, fried. Song!

Smoked mackerel, pre-soaked in garum, is simply magnificent. Gut the mackerel, fill the belly with a mixture of parsley and dill and pour the garum there. It will stand overnight or at least 4–5 hours, then it can be smoked (let the grass remain in the belly). One more song!

Why did I need all this? It was interesting. I have the audacity to say that this was the first historical culinary reconstruction of garum in Russia. I was driven by research and historical reenactment interest. It is a good and rewarding culinary experience. And how much fun brings only the squeamish look of the wife and her cries when she passes by, and you stir the fish in the kitchen in a flask.

Garum - fish sauce, known for its palatability even in ancient Roman times. This product is also used in our time, however, unlike most sauces, it will take a lot of time to prepare it.

Sauce history

The history of Garum begins with ancient era. Then salty sauce with a rich fishy taste was used in medicinal purposes- with its help, they healed wounds from insect bites, eliminated digestive disorders, and relieved headaches.

Later, people realized that Garum sauce, in addition to healing properties has an unusual and interesting taste. The product began to be used for its intended purpose and gained such popularity that it appeared on the tables of representatives of all classes of that time.

The main composition of the sauce included salt, vinegar, wine, pepper and olive oil. In many regions, this sauce replaced salt for cooks, but because of the pungent smell, it could only be prepared outside the city. In the province of Rome, it was delivered in sealed earthenware vessels.

Now this sauce is prepared on the basis of sea fish- mackerel, anchovies, tuna or shellfish. It is customary to add dill, celery, thyme and coarse salt to the composition.

Fish-based sauce is a product with long history and peculiar taste. We invite you to familiarize yourself with interesting facts associated with this unusual seasoning:

In recent decades, Thailand has been considered the main supplier of Garum sauce and other fish seasonings. Many countries are among the leaders South-East Asia. Products are made from seafood, fish entrails and blood, raw or dried sea fish.
The basis of the sauce largely depends on the country in which it is prepared. The Thais use anchovies as a basis, the Vietnamese make a product from shrimp, in Japan they use squid, hairtooth or northern gerbil.
The juice, which is the basis of the sauce, can only be obtained in direct sunlight. In Asian countries, it can be insisted from six months or even longer. If you decide to make the sauce yourself, start doing it long before the onset of autumn. Only in this case, the fish will have time to ferment and release the desired liquid.
The creation and aging of Garum sauce can be compared to the production of quality wine. In industry, this process takes from 18 months to 3 years. The sauce is filtered and infused, which results in a composition that has no analogues.
The color and taste of the sauce depends on the method of preparation and the manufacturer. An inferior product is obtained by boiling salted fish and adding Garum the highest category. To reduce the price, flavor enhancers, sugar and colorants are added. More quality product created with the addition of bottled water. The finished sauce should be clear.

If you are allergic to seafood, buying or making your own sauce is not recommended. Be careful with purchased seasoning - it may contain components that are not tolerated by the body.

Useful properties of the product

In ancient times, Garum sauce was used to heal many diseases. In many ways, this was possible due to the substances in its composition: amino acids, B vitamins, iodine, iron, calcium, phosphorus. The product of the highest grades improves blood circulation, promotes the production of hemoglobin, strengthens the walls of blood vessels and has a positive effect on vision. The sauce has a relatively low calorie content (about 121 kcal), contains almost no fat and has a positive effect on metabolism. If you are afraid of gaining weight, then feel free to use the sauce as a dietary option.

How to use Garum Sauce

Garum is added to ready meals and combined seasonings. Often this sauce is used instead of salt. Garum is combined with the following products:

seafood and fish dishes (sea and river);
hot dishes and soups;
pasta, buckwheat porridge, rice;
vegetable stews and salads;
lemon, garlic, hot pepper;
potatoes and other vegetables.

traditional recipe

It takes from 2 to 9 months to create a quality fish sauce. However, if you purchase fermented fish, it will take less time to cook the product. To create seasoning traditional recipe you need to take the following ingredients. Their number can be varied depending on your tastes:

fatty fish (anchovies, sardines, mackerel);
dried herbs;
sea salt;
clay dishes.

Garum is prepared as follows:

Prepare the fish. Separate the entrails and blood from the bones.
Mix 8 parts fish and 1 part salt. Add the herbs of your choice here as well.
Mix all the ingredients and transfer to an earthenware vessel. Leave to ferment for 2 months. This should happen in the air, under direct sunlight.

It is not recommended to leave the sauce on the balcony - during the fermentation process, a pungent smell will come from it. The finished Garum will turn out transparent, but if such a result has not been achieved, then there is nothing terrible - the taste will not change from this.

Quick sauce preparation

If you do not want to wait 2 months, but try Garum own cooking still want to, we invite you to familiarize yourself with quick recipe famous product:

De-bone the fish of your choice and mix with salt (8:1 ratio).
Pour water over the fish with salt and boil for 3 hours.
Scroll the resulting mixture through a blender.

Let the sauce cool down and serve.

Among the variety of sauces in world cuisine, a special place is occupied by specific traditional dressings, which are prepared on the basis of fish or seafood. In most cases, this sauce has a very unusual taste that not everyone may like. Italian sauce garum is a great example this type seasonings. Its history spans almost two millennia, since the first mention of the sauce dates back to the 1st century AD and is associated with the name of Apicius, a famous Roman gourmet.

Apicius greatly appreciated Tasty food, therefore, devoted his whole life to the development and creation of new culinary delights. Many of his recipes have become the basis for modern European dishes - including garum. old recipe sauce is based on the use of the main ingredient - small fish - anchovies or anchovies, which, due to their size, were not considered suitable for food and were used as animal feed. Apicius learned how to extract fermented fish juice from fish, from which an exquisite and rather expensive sauce was obtained.

You can cook garum at home today. Of course, the procedure now does not take a year, as described by Apicius, a little more than a month is enough. But in any case, to implement the recipe, it will take patience and time.

You will need:

Raw anchovy - 2 kilograms
Coarse salt - 500 g
Rosemary - 150 g
Dill - 200 g
Parsley - 200 g
Peppermint - 100 g
Fennel - 100 g
Basil - 200 g
Cilantro - 150 g
Thyme - 150 g

Servings - 8

Preparation time - 1.5 months

About fish

Reading forums and discussions on the topic of cooking garum, you can often find reviews of caustic fishy smell. In fact, in ancient Rome there really was such a “problem”: the recipe involved preparing the sauce in large earthenware vats in the sun, they were poorly protected from external influence, and, in addition, the production technology was often violated, and the vats were not washed well enough after last year's cooking. At home, the sauce will not exude an intolerable fish stink for one simple reason: in a clean container, the fish is covered with salt, which is a natural antiseptic. In such a salty environment, bacteria, which are the cause of the smell, do not multiply.

The fermentation process is not the rotting of fish, as many mistakenly believe. It is similar to the fermentation process, that is, under the influence of special microorganisms, the product is transformed, which has nothing to do with the process of decay.

To prepare garum, you will need a large ceramic container. It must be thoroughly washed, without traces of foreign products. Finely chopped herbs are laid out at its bottom - not all at once, but a small part. Then the fish is placed on top of the herbs.
This sequence of layers is repeated several times until all products are used up. The topmost layer is salt, which should not be spared, since the success of preparing the sauce largely depends on it. The container should not be filled to the very top: there should be enough space between the lid and the last layer for the secreted juices and a layer of air.
The container with the workpiece is placed in a warm, protected from insects or other harmful factors. external environment, a place. After a week, the mixture is gently stirred with a wooden spatula, then the lid is closed again. This procedure is repeated three times - that is, the sauce is infused for three weeks.

Getting juice

Obviously, not all the mass obtained as a result of fermentation is used for the Roman garum sauce itself. Bones, air bubbles and tissues of fish, sprigs of herbs - all this should not be in the finished dressing. Therefore, the recipe includes not only the infusion of the fish-herbal mixture.

In the fourth week, the garum mixture must be strained to remove solid particles. The process is not too easy, because the fishy smell (not the smell of rotten meat, but the smell of fish) is still present, and if one of the family members does not tolerate the fishy aroma, it is better to do this in his absence. You can filter the mixture using a colander with small cells.
The filtered mass will resemble a puree-like substance, which is poured into a glass jar and infused under a closed lid for about 1.5 weeks.
After this time, the mixture will separate into two parts: the bottom will be a transparent liquid, and the top will be what gave the consistency of the puree. Needed for the sauce Bottom part masses. It is expressed with gauze, preferably several times, since the suspension from the top layer, which is very nutritious and saturated with fat mass, yet gives bitterness and is generally unsuitable for food.
Ready fish juice can be flavored olive oil, wine vinegar, as well as spices: black pepper, herbs, sesame seeds.

Innings

If the recipe has been fully followed, the finished sauce will have a very tart, but pleasant taste with a characteristic fishy aroma. IN Italian restaurants it is always present on the menu, it can also be found on supermarket shelves. True, in the latter case, the composition of the seasoning will include all kinds of preservatives and flavor enhancers, so there is no need to talk about compliance with the recipe.

Garum is served with various side dishes of rice and vegetables, and is used in the preparation of many dishes as one of the ingredients.
It is believed that the sauce goes well with meat and poultry. They can also flavor salads and seafood dishes.
It sounds strange, but garum is still used in the preparation of fish, often replacing salt with it.

It is worth repeating that the sauce is difficult to prepare, so the hostess must correctly assess her strength. In addition, if you have not been able to try something like this before, the result may be disappointing. In order not to waste products, it is better to purchase a sample in a supermarket - for testing, even if it does not quite correspond to tradition.

Bon Appetit!

In contact with

Ancient Roman garum is one of the oldest fish sauces in the world. In the Apician Corps, cookbook the middle of the first millennium AD, garum is mentioned in many dishes, it also says what it was made of: tuna, anchovies, mackerel and various herbs were used.

with heads and entrails fermented for several months in the sun in stone tanks (such survived, for example, in Chersonese), and various ancient sources

reported: the smell in the production of garum was such that the sauce had to

do it in designated areas. Something similar is being done in Southeast Asia.

and now: the famous Asian fish sauces are of the same nature.

A few years ago, a resident of Tomsk, Maxim

Stepanenko repeated the culinary experience of the ancient Romans, and then repeated it more than once. How, why and why - we asked him himself.

“My wife once bought a package of small salted fish. On the package

it was written how in ancient Rome garum sauce was made from such a fish. It got me interested. What is called, torknulo. And I decided to cook it.

I love fish, the family eats a lot of fish, especially in fasting, and fish is very

waste product. Sometimes heads, fins and giblets occupy up to 30% of the carcass,

so there were no problems with raw materials. I looked for a recipe on the Internet, found it in references to the Roman writer Gargilius Martial. I also realized that in reality no one did it in Russia, there are continuous theoretical reprints on the net.

buy the right amount of fish or get a lot of raw fish waste, garum

can be done right away. From 35 kg of fish (or waste), you can end up with 8–9 liters of garum.

I don't have a fish factory, I wasn't ready to make garum, so I started collecting raw fish waste gradually from the end of October. He put them in a 36-liter stainless steel tank that stood on an unheated veranda. What I collected: fins, tails, heads, giblets from herring,

mackerel, pollock and pike. In no case should you put in a garum

thermally processed fish, this is a fundamentally important point. Another important detail: the more offal, the better it will be

prepare garum, because this sauce is not a product of rotting or fermentation,

as some foolishly write, but a fermentation product of fish protein. enzymes,

liquid, more precisely, puree.

If you live in an apartment, then fish waste can be stored in the freezer or on the balcony until the right amount is collected. Every time I put fish in a flask, I sprinkled it with coarse salt.

at the rate of 1 part of salt to 8 parts of fish. Garum salt cannot be spoiled if there is more of it, the sauce will simply be saltier at the exit and it can be added to food in smaller quantities. Actually, thanks to salt, the fish is preserved and does not rot in the summer even under the Spanish sun.

By the end of April, half of the flask turned out, I had to

add more fish. I bought several kilograms of capelin, pollock and blue whiting. relatives

brought half a bag of bream. On the Ob, bream is considered a fish

second-rate, and if they come across, they are either thrown away or used for fertilizer: they are buried when planting a pepper or tomato under a bush; no

mullein is not needed, the vegetable grows perfectly! I chopped the bream into pieces and put it in a tank, where I sent the purchased fish. Then spices and dried herbs: a few packs of Herbes de Provence, bought sage and mint at the pharmacy. And I had half a kilo by me

dried set of dill, parsley, cilantro. Added a few more packages

laurel, coriander, black peppercorns and allspice.

(Garum does not need to be cooked only from river fish. And certainly not from one ide. Once my friends brought a lot of ide and roach. I dried the roach, put the ide on cutlets

and dumplings. From the raw remains of all this, I prepared my second garum, the taste of which I did not really like. The ide has a specific taste, and it has passed into the sauce. In the garum, there should definitely be mackerel and capelin, each of these fish is at least 15% of the total mass.)

At the end of April, the tank moved to the greenhouse. Fermentation

begins when the mass warms up to a temperature above 20 degrees. A kitchen and a central heating battery will also do; Spanish heat, as it turned out,

About a week bubbles appeared in the raw material, probably it was carbon dioxide from the fermentation of glycogen. In addition, the raw material has slightly increased in volume: therefore, when filling the container with fish, you need to leave at least 20 cm to the edge so that the garum does not crawl out

Internet stories that when cooking garum begins

wild stench - nonsense. If you do everything right, then there is no rotting. When garum

stood in a greenhouse, even flies did not fly there, it smelled only next to a flask - fish

with spices. The second time I did garum was in September, while the flask was in the kitchen

two months near the stove, and none of the guests even guessed that there was fish in the flask!

By mid-July, the contents of the flask turned into a puree

mass; it makes no sense to keep raw materials for more than two months. Strained the mass, and it turned out about

16 liters of primary garum - brown puree mass with fish and spices

At first I thought that this puree was garum (on the Internet about this

not a word). But it's not. In the cold

stratification begins: what in Rome was called chalex rose up - a dense

a mixture of proteins and fat, and at the bottom there was a transparent liquid of a light brown color. This is the garum. I carefully pushed a thin tube through the chalex and carefully drained

garum. Since there were no Roman legionnaires, slaves and the poor around me,

I did not sell the remaining chalex to them, but sent it to the compost heap (good

fertilizer, by the way). Formally, chalex is edible, but it quickly becomes bitter.

(fish oil is oxidized), and it also gives the food a painfully strong taste of fish. It may have been suitable for Roman slaves, but free Russians are better

Here is a description of a seasoning that was popular in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. I invite you to touch history, dear readers.

Title in English: Fish Sauce (liquamen lat.)

Name in French: La Sauce de Poisson (liquamen in Latin)

Synonyms or other names: garum (Greco-Roman, the oldest), Nyokmam (Vietnamese from the Phu Quoc and Phan Thiet regions), settsuru, ikanago shoyu and ishiru (Japanese from sardines and squid), nampla (Thai), nganpyi (Myanmar), nampa (Lao), padek (Lao, Isan), Tyktray and Tikuti (Cambodian), Patis (Filipino), Yulu and Xiayu (Chinese), Ekchot and Chotkal (Korean)

In what form it is sold: liquid in containers (glass, plastic). An uncorked container is stored for no more than 12 months in a dark and cool place.

Fish sauce is a product made from fermented (fermented with salt), very fresh fish. different types(traditionally - anchovies, which give a luxurious aroma, especially appreciated by gourmets, or similar species). As a result of a long fermentation period, a clear, salty liquid (fish juice) is obtained.

How to use fish sauce

Fish sauce is one of the leading ingredients in Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Indonesian, Korean, Filipino and many more. oriental cuisines world, and, of course, in Thai. It is applied like:

sauce for ready meals;
ingredient for combined seasonings and sauces;
a component of many recipes (in Southeast Asia it is often added instead of salt, i.e. it is responsible for this component in recipes that balance on a combination of salty, sweet, sour, spicy).

Europeans hardly get used to such a seasoning, since it has a pronounced smell. fish sauces different peoples and manufacturers vary in color. It is generally accepted that light varieties are more elite than dark ones.

Used with fish and seafood dishes.
Suitable for soups and gravies, hot second.
Thais replace salt with fish sauce. He stands on the table wealthy people, and the poor.
In Vietnam, they are seasoned with rice to give it a refined taste, in noodles and any other dishes.
Fish sauce is a great addition to fresh salads from vegetables and even fruits (papaya).
The Korean product is the leading ingredient of the famous kimchi.
Philippine patis must be pre-cooked even if it is used to season fresh food.
One of the most constant and invariable dishes in the Philippines is arros caldo porridge, heavily seasoned with fish sauce.

Thailand is considered the main producer and seller of this popular seasoning in the East. In this country, the state classification of the product has been approved. When buying it, pay attention to the designations:

Pure fish sauce (isanchovies);
Fish sauce made from other types of animals (from other marine life);
Diluted fish sauce (from approved food additives).

There is also a TISI quality mark (local industrial standards institute), a Thailand barcode, a type of fish sauce, brand, date and expiration date. The liquid should be clear and have a characteristic fishy smell. Its color varies from golden to brown.

What is combined with:

Fish sauce is great for:

any fish and seafood;
raw, boiled, fried, stewed vegetables;
rice and noodles.

Sometimes this popular seasoning is combined with lime juice, garlic, dill and cilantro, ginger and red hot pepper. Pieces of a variety of products, even meat and poultry, are dipped into the resulting mixture. Fish sauce is the basis of Vietnamese Nyoc Cham. In Cambodia, other popular sauces are made using tyktray and tikuti.

What can not be combined with:

Fish sauce is not compatible with dairy products, including cottage cheese, cheeses, mushrooms. It is not used with sweet pastries and drinks.

Beneficial features:

Fish sauce is good for the body. Studies have shown that it contains a whole list of mineral salts, amino acids, B vitamins, including a significant amount of B12, and PP.

By the way, pay attention to the real composition of the fish sauce.

For residents of Southeast Asian countries, this is the main source of a whole list useful substances, including lysine, pantothenic acid, calcium, iron, sodium, phosphorus, iodine. If we talk about the product of the highest grades, then it:

promotes the production of hemoglobin and improves metabolism;
positively affects vision, blood vessels;
improves skin, blood microcirculation.

Contraindications for use:

Fish sauce is not recommended for people who are allergic to fish and seafood simply because it is difficult to know for sure what it is based on. Having bought a low-quality product, you can face the problem of individual intolerance.

Fish sauce was invented by the Greeks several centuries BC. e., although today it is considered that this is a traditional product from Southeast Asia. Unlike modern product, ancient Greek was not so salty. The Roman province of Betica in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, the territory of present-day Spain (Andalusia and partly Extremadura) and the Portuguese province of Alentezh, became especially famous for its product.
Most ancient recipe among fish sauces dating back more than a thousand years is garum. The ancient Greeks and Romans prepared it from tuna, mackerel, eel, anchovies. Some species contained wine, honey, vinegar.
Although Thailand is considered the main producer of seasoning, today it is produced by manufacturing companies in all Southeast Asian countries. They offer the richest product range, which differs not only in components ( different varieties fish - one, two or more, seafood, including plankton; raw, dried, whole fish; the blood of a fish or its entrails; various additives), but also the type and duration of fermentation.
In Vietnam, fish sauce is traditionally made from shrimp, while in Thailand it is made from anchovies. In Japan, ishiru in the Noto Peninsula is made from sardines and squid, setsuru in Akita province from Japanese hairtooth, and ikanago shoyu in Kagawa province from northern gerbil.
The Thai seasoning nampla has a more pronounced taste and smell than the Vietnamese nuok mam or Chinese yu lu.
Fish sauce is hard to compare to taste. He is special. There are no analogues. In terms of popularity in Southeast Asia, only soy can compete with it. At home, it will not be possible to produce a product of high quality.
Try to make fish sauce - there are enough recipes on the net, but you can’t achieve the traditional taste and smell. The initial product is placed in special wooden barrels and fermented under the scorching sun of Southeast Asia. Only in this case, the fish will secrete juice - that very luxurious, salty liquid that gourmets so appreciate.
Product fermentation in industrial scale can last up to 18 months on average. The liquid is carefully collected and continued to infuse. High-quality fish sauce with a bright and rich taste is aged as good wine. The highest grade has up to three years of aging.
Grade 2 and 3 are produced with the addition of water. Such a product is bottled in 2-3 months. The lowest grade is obtained by boiling the remains of salted fish from barrels. Often the manufacturer adds a little sauce of the highest category to the product obtained in this way. This improves the taste. A very cheap and low-quality product is prepared with the addition of a flavor enhancer, sugar, dyes and other similar ingredients.
Fish sauce from different manufacturers and from different countries it can be completely black, brown and even ruby, but it should always be transparent.

In the photo below, the label of the FAKE fish sauce, study its composition and compare with the label of the sauce brought from Thailand. (see above)

Unfortunately, in stores most often they sell not real sauce. An ignorant person, having decided to try fish sauce, buys a fake and is left disappointed.

Now you know how to distinguish real fish sauce from its low-quality substitutes, be sure to try this seasoning, only real. She's worth it!