Reddit mentions: The best fish sauces

Some are saying to use store bought, which is fine. American versions are quite different than Thai versions though. I believe homemade to be the best, personal opinion, because you can adjust things easily and control salt. Plus the aroma is fresh and leave my house smelling like my friends' houses LOL

Below are the hard to find ingredients used in every authentic curry paste video I've come across. If you can't get things locally but use Amazon and are willing to spend a little more than at a local spot, you can find exactly what you need to make good curry paste.
None of these are end all be all brands/sellers, just ones I use regularly or have used. Look for lower prices as needed! Just guiding you on some common hard to find items & substitutes if you don't have a fully stocked Asian grocer nearby.

Dried galangal can be rehydrated and works just as well as fresh. Fresh is best, of course, but is hard to find. Ginger is not a replacement for this not even close. I made a curry paste with ginger once then with galangal...no. Heard you can also use galangal powder, but have never tried that.

Shrimp paste, keeps for a long time in the fridge. If you're not familiar with this stuff...it's gonna smell. (Am I strange for liking it though?) It smells like something you don't want to add in but it does not make adverse flavors in curries, it enhances them and the smell goes away once combined in the paste.

Lemongrass can be found at some commercial stores occasionally. I think you said you can get some locally though.

Prik chi fah (or spur chilis, not as spicy as the next pepper below) hardest to come by but you can use dried guajillo peppers (Spanish pepper) in its place.

Prik kee noo (Thai chilis, very spicy) you can use dried Szechuan peppers or arabol chilies (Spanish pepper). Arabols are a bit less spicy than Thai chilies but the flavor is comparable. The exception here is if you're making green curry, you really need fresh green Thai chilis, not sure jalapeños would work as a replacement, the flavor is too different to me.

Kaffir lime leaves Not for the paste but used to make some of the actual curries, in other dishes, or as edible garnish. The two ounce package is plenty and they freeze very well. Very aromatic and fresh scent, adds something nice to the curry. Can't live without it now.

Sounds like you can get fish sauce, but the depth of flavor really depends on the brand. I use squid fish sauce for curries personally. The flavor is nice and smooth but not overpowering. Tiparos is another brand of fish sauce I use for things like larb, stir fry, & Thai omelettes because it's much stronger in my opinion to the other two, too strong for a curry to me. Darker fish sauce, in my experience tend to be stronger than lighter colored ones.

Cilantro roots are just impossible to find in smaller markets or online from my searches. Cilantro stems work just fine! (If you watch the videos I shared below, she mentions this often. Here to confirm it works perfectly.) I double the amount of stems for roots in recipes though.

Cumin seeds, white pepper, coriander seeds can be found easily online and often in mainstream stores. Palm sugar isn't always necessary if you can't find it, I hate the process of breaking it apart!

I use Pai's recipes all the time, she runs Hot Thai Kitchen on Youtube. Her recipes for curries have all been fantastic, just remember to season properly with fish sauce. If you love Thai food definitely watch her videos I've never had a failure and they taste perfect to what my friends' families cook.
Here are her curry paste recipes, and I've tried every single one several times. Videos using the pastes should appear in the more videos sections:

red curry

green curry

yellow curry

Massaman

Panang

She just did a video about coconut milk if you need help with that. I use the Arroy-D in the can, she said she's never got it to separate but I have so I have no issues with it.

If you have questions, let me know!
Oh, and eat your Thai-style curry with Jasmine rice if you aren't, the aroma of it really enhances everything!

> favorite

> easy

>really cheap

Sure. Both pho and ramen do require you to have some pantry essentials on hand, so there's an up-front cost involving a trip to the best Asian market you can access, but like any kitchen essential, once you have it it's there & you'll quickly learn what you burn through quickly and what sits on the shelf for months at a time. We're talking maybe $50 to be able to make a pretty endless supply of soups that generally cost ~$15 at a restaurant, so it's a good deal.

I prefer chicken pho (pho ga) because it tastes better to me than beef pho (pho bo), it's much easier and it's much cheaper. So it fits your bill.

For pho ga there are only two pantry items you really need:

• fish sauce — something like this or this, NOT something like this or this. Those last two links are awful US supermarket brands
  
  
• yellow rock sugar
  
  The recipe is pretty idiot-proof. Other than charring the onion and ginger until they're blackened—this is an essential step—and using enough rock sugar to give the broth some sweetness, the most important step is to blanch the chicken parts so your broth isn't cloudy. The steps for that are in the recipe.
  
  [Pho ga from Andrea Ngyuen.] (https://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2007/06/chicken_pho_noo.html) Andrea's The Pho Cookbook is very good, but a whole book on pho is a little redundant IMO (Mai Pham is another Vietnamese chef who wrote the outstanding Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table if you're interested in a more comprehensive book on Viet cuisine; her pho ga recipe is virtually identical to Andrea's).
  
  For ramen I don't prefer chicken over the traditional pork, and TBH there's a much wider, denser spectrum of ramen out there than there is of pho—but chicken will still be the easier and cheaper option, and it's still fucking good. I've actually had a pot of chicken ramen broth going on my stove since last night, so I'll share that recipe here.
  
  The pantry staples for ramen are more complicated, so I'll just list them and you can see what's available in your area and what you might want to order online. They are:
  
  
• konbu (a variety of seaweed; thick, rectangular strips of kelp)
  
  
• mirin (rice wine used for cooking)
  
  
• sake (also rice wine, but generally served as a beverage)
  
  
• white soy sauce
  
  
• usukuchi soy sauce (a light soy sauce)
  
  
• niboshi
  
  
• katsuobushi
  
  That list might look intimidating. Don't let it be. Konbu, niboshi and katsuobushi are just dehydrated seafood & fish that will store in your pantry forever. Mirin and sake are just booze and the other two are just soy sauce. Easy.
  
  Now, ramen is a LOT more time-intensive than pho but don't let that scare you off. It takes 8–10 hours, but really only 1–2 of those are active depending on how fast you prep the ramen's seasoning ("tare"). Like I said, I put my chicken ramen (chicken paitan) on the stove last night before going to bed, and I'm just finishing off the last hour of it this morning while I type this. And after you soak the initial tare ingredients in the fridge—you can do that overnight while your broth simmers, too—then completing it only takes about 15 minutes. Comparatively, pho ga takes about two hours start to finish. But other than clock-watching, both of these recipes are so easy that any novice can tackle them.
  
  Both /r/pho and /r/ramen are a little circlejerk-y when it comes to just posting photos of bowls of soup (TBF I guess there's only so much you can actually say about either), but /r/ramen has a very good contributor/mod in /u/Ramen_Lord whose sidebar tour of ramen recipes will make homemade ramen feel very accessible to the American cook.
  
  Here is that entry for chicken paitan ramen, the thing that's going in my kitchen at this moment:. The recipe itself is in this comment.
  
  Enjoy, and feel free to ask any further questions! I do recommend buying an inexpensive kitchen scale as the one piece of equipment other than a pot, spoon and knife that you really want to have for soupmaking. Something less than $20 will do. Otherwise an immersion blender is a very, very handy tool to have around the house but it's in no way necessary. Have fun!

Just make it yourself. The cost of ingredients may feel like a hit when you buy them online (Amazon has all of them), but from those ingredients, you make TONS of kimchi. Plus, kimchi is a base for a ton of other cheap meals, so in my mind it is worth the initial cost hit for the benefit down the road.

I use Maangchi's recipe for kimchi and many other Korean recipes (http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/easy-kimchi). Harder to find ingredients include:

Sweet Rice flour -- $5 at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/GLUTINOUS-FLOUR-1x16OZ-ERAWAN-THP/dp/B005WG1VRI/ref=sr_1_6?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1451764193&sr=1-6&keywords=mochiko)

Gochugaru -- $10 for a 1 lb bag (http://www.amazon.com/Korean-Chili-Flakes-Gochugaru-Tae-kyung/dp/B005G8IDTQ)

Fish Sauce -- $13 for Red Boat fish sauce, which I recommend, but there are cheaper kinds as well (http://www.amazon.com/Red-Boat-Sauce-Fluid-Ounce/dp/B00K6ZJ1W2/ref=sr_1_2?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1451764337&sr=1-2&keywords=fish+sauce)

Maangchi uses squid to help the fermentation, but I prefer salted shrimp. Those will be the things that are a bit harder to find, so you may want to opt out of that. By poking around on Maangchi's website, you can get other ideas for things that will help the fermentation.

So this brings the initial investment of harder to find ingredients to about $30. While it seems like a lot, those ingredients will last you though multiple batches of kimchi. And each batch I make with one head of cabbage makes TONS. The kimchi is also great to add to other cheap foods (scrambled eggs with kimchi thrown in; minced and tossed in stir fry; chopped with some juice to add to instant ramen), so the initial investment will help you out later.

Yellow Thai curry over rice. Go to your local Asian market, or get these off of amazon:

Mae Ploy brand Yellow Curry Paste

and

Squid brand fish sauce

You only use a few Tablespoons of each at a time, and they both last a long time in the fridge (many months)

Here's how I make it:

• Put a (14ish OZ size) can of coconut milk in a large-ish pot (I use around 5 qt size for almost everything)
  
• Chop up some boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs into 1 inch chunks and add to coconut milk.
  
• Chop veggies that your kids are not violently opposed to into 1 inch size chunks (carrots/potatoes/sweet potatoes/onions) and add to coconut milk.
  
• Mix 2 Tbsp of Curry Paste with 2 Tbsp water in a small bowl to break up any lumps and add to the coconut milk
  
• Bring pot to a boil then reduce and simmer until chicken and veggies are cooked through. You could also do this in a crock pot.
  
• If you are using veggies like frozen peas, or bell pepper, don't add until the chicken is almost cooked as they cook really fast and will get mushy if you cook them for a long time.
  
• When chicken is cooked, add 2 Tablespoons of the fish sauce. I know this stuff smells awful coming out of the bottle, but you only use a little bit, and it really adds tastiness and depth to the curry.
  
• Serve over rice (or noodles)
  
  
  I really like this because it is really versatile. You do have to buy coconut milk, the Paste, and the Fish sauce, but after that you can just make it with whatever meat/veggies you have on hand. I mostly do Potatoes, Onions, and Chicken, but I used the red paste with shrimp and bok choy once when I was feeling adventurous, and it was great.
  
  The coconut milk gives it a great flavor, and if you use familiar ingredients like potatoes and chicken you can probably get your kids to try it if they are a bit picky. It's really just a throw-stuff-in-a-pot kind of a dish, but I really like it.
  
  Check out some recipes/posts on it here, here, and here
  
  (edit:formatting)

I'm not familiar with that brand, but it looks like the right thing. The most basic one that my wife's family uses is Squid brand. I also like Red Boat, but it's more expensive. Megachef is very good also and less expensive. I've also recently discovered a brand called Hai Ngu which looks and tastes like an identical clone of Red Boat, but less expensive.

When buying fish sauce, the marks of quality are:

• First Press
  
• Made in Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam
  
• Ingredients should contain anchovy and salt, nothing else. Many of the cheaper ones, like Squid brand, include some added sugar, but absolutely nothing else should be added.
  
• 40°N or 60°N indicates the natural sweetness of the sauce, and the higher the more expensive.
  

First column:
Chicken Piccata http://damndelicious.net/2016/02/26/easy-lemon-chicken-piccata/print/ - Trader Joe's brown rice and quinoa pasta, and Trader Joe's All Purpose gluten free flour

Cheese Plate - Glutino Crackers

Pad Thai - Gluten Free fish sauce https://www.amazon.com/Red-Boat-Premium-Fish-Sauce/dp/B00B617XK2 Recipe: http://rasamalaysia.com/pad-thai/print (sub tamarind for the vinegar and chicken for the shrimp)

Cobb Salad with Homemade Ranch (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/homemade-ranch-dressing/)

Second Column:
Shrimp Fried Rice with Kikkoman Gluten Free Soy Sauce

Tom Kha Soup (super easy week night soup!) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EONW4I/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Cha Gio) http://rasamalaysia.com/vietnamese-spring-rolls-cha-gio-recipe/2/

Turkey Meatloaf - sub gluten free panko https://www.amazon.com/Aleias-Gluten-Panko-Crumbs-Original/dp/B008PA9TUE
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/turkey-meatloaf-recipe.html

I think a lot of people are equating the crystal salt-like additive MSG (e.g. Ajinomoto) with naturally occurring glutamates. Maybe this person, for whatever reason, does not want to eat MSG additives but is fine with eating naturally occurring glutamates, such as those found in seaweed, tomatoes, anchovies, etc.

Also, to H20, there are fish sauces that have naturally occurring glutamates and no MSG additives.
Examples of fish sauces with no added MSG (emphasis on the "added"):

https://www.amazon.com/Red-Boat-Premium-Fish-Sauce/dp/B00B617XK2

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Tiparos-Fish-Sauce-23-oz/16004704


To be clear, I agree that MSG tastes fucking AMAZING. But I also respect the decisions of people who don't eat MSG additives.

Have you tried BLiS's Barrel-Aged Fish Sauce? It's made using Red Boat sauce, which is aged in wooden barrels for seven months. It's pretty fantastic, and great when you're making a chili-lime-fish sauce dip for steaks or seafood, or for any fish sauce recipe wherein the fish sauce needs to shine.

I went to Amazon to get the link and saw they are out of stock of the brand I use.
Vegan Fish Sauce | VFish | British Food Products | 5fl oz. (150ml) | MSG Seasoning | Vegetarian & Vegan Gifts | Seaweed Based Gift | Fish-Free Fish Sauce https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D4LFMGD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_oHfRDb6BE4FM7

They have another brand but it's too expensive in my opinion. Link at bottom. So I suggest this instead.
Yondu Vegetable Umami - Premium Plant-based Seasoning Sauce - All-Purpose Instant Flavor Boost, Better Than: Fish Sauce, Soy Sauce, Bouillon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075KGRBTM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_hJfRDbB3RBQ7E

Here's the link to the one Amazon has in stock but pricey
Vegan Fysh Sauce (Vegan Fish Sauce Made with Seaweed) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DINZQGI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_BJfRDbEQ2X67X

Some things I'd add to the list that will all last a while (depending on how much you cook Asian at home):

Fish Sauce - little goes a long way, but it adds something magical and it lasts forever. One bottle = more than a year in my experience

Rice Paper - dunk it in water and then wrap anything you want in it. Again, it lasts forever & it turns any leftovers/herbs/lettuce into a superb snack or appetizer.

Tom Yum Paste - add to ramen instead of the powdered crap in a packet & you've got instant Tom Yum... add some coconut milk & it's instant Tom Kha.

Sesame Oil - add to salad dressings & stir-frys yum! And it also will add a little joy to ramen.

Mirin - Mirin + Soy Sauce + Sesame Oil + Garlic Powder = Teriyaki Sauce

To replace the soy sauce, I used liquid aminos. I'm not sure if it's strictly paleo, but there is a coconut "soy sauce" alternative out there, too. We don't use that, though. I also used fish sauce for flavoring, and the pork belly took care of any need for extra oil- the fat did a fine job of coating the wok.

Instead of the sriracha, i just chopped up some ghost chiles. You can use any chiles you'd like. Serranos if you want it pretty mild, and so on. I also have harissa infused olive oil. I used a touch of that with some lime juice as seasoning. We're not super strict- we make some concessions with the kids, but if you wanted to be strcitly paleo, leave out the olive oil and the liquid aminos and just use fish sauce as flavoring. Our fish sauce (from an asian market) contains: anchovies and salt.

I buy quite a lot from Amazon since I live in a rural area with limited access to paleo friendly stores.

Kelp Noodles

Nogii Bars

Cocconut Oil

Fish Sauce

Cacao Powder

Epic Bars

Almond Flour

Kale Chips

Ghee

Note: Not all are subscribe and save

Flying Lion Fish Sauce would be an excellent choice.

Here is an excellent primer/buying guide to [Vietnamese] fish sauces.

There are a bunch of brands at various price points.

Try three crabs brand. It's great and ubiquitous and easy to recognize because it's got three crabs on it. Don't buy it on Amazon, but here's a link so you can see what it looks like: https://www.amazon.com/Three-Crabs-Brand-24-Ounce-Bottle/dp/B001OQWK0W

Well played. Get yourself some red boat fish sauce and really kick it up a notch :) I did off the recommendation of Nom Nom Paleo... adds some umami to your food!

Bro, you gotta try some fish sauce. All of that great umami flavor without those pesky plants.

In case you're actually curious, I like this curry paste, and this fish sauce.

> 'swarm of crabs'

That visual made me laugh... like the marketing team is like "how many crabs on this bottle would tell the consumer that this is good stuff??" "I 'unno... like a swarm?"

Is it this stuff? I'm not sure what constitutes a swarm, but three seems to be the bare minimum for me.

https://www.amazon.com/Three-Crabs-Brand-24-Ounce-Bottle/dp/B00016UX14

Carry around a small bottle of fish sauce...

A little concentrated anchovy extract across the air intake and they'll have a nice surprise when they turn go to rev ol' coal to blow smoke...

Yup, especially this type. So good and so stinky. https://www.amazon.com/Three-Crabs-Brand-24-Ounce-Bottle/dp/B001OQWK0W

You can find canned squid in ink sauce in the Hispanic section of the grocery store, it is OK. A bit chewier than deep fried calamari, but not the delicious chew toy for humans that is squid sashimi.

The canned fish you really want to eat is smoked herring fillets, also called "kipper". It is the bacon of the sea- salty, fatty and smoky, so delicious, plus it has a ton of omega-3 fats, and low mercury. It is flavorful, but less strong than canned tuna.

Fish sauce is definitely it's own deal, but you can use it in a whole variety of dishes for a savory kick (pasta sauce, other tomato sauces, curries, and soups or stews). You can get it on Amazon, though the price is a little inflated: here. A little goes a long way, so this would last you quite a while.

Just to piggy-back off this, I've seen some markets sell seasoning mixes that contain seaweed or kelp. Bragg's makes a shake, and I also found this: (sorry, on mobile -- link). Vegan Fysh Sauce (Vegan Fish Sauce Made with Seaweed) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DINZQGI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_spfLAb1DW4HGG

Hope you find what you're looking for!

Sounds disgusting (I don't even eat fish), tastes amazing, low calorie and gives huge flavor to rice, (add after cooking)
https://www.amazon.com/Red-Boat-Premium-Fish-Sauce/dp/B00B617XK2/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1484779605&sr=8-1&keywords=vietnamese+fish+sauce

This is typically what they use in Vietnamese restaurants.

Looking at Amazon’s German listings, here are the ones from the first 2 pages of results that are Vietnamese:

1. https://www.amazon.de/Thanh-Ha-Vietnamesische-Fischsauce-Krabben/dp/B07FBK2BL2
   
2. https://www.amazon.de/Viet-Huong-Fischsauce-Original-Vietnam/dp/B001OQWK0W
   
3. https://www.amazon.de/Hung-Thanh-Fischsauce-0-5l/dp/B01A740VE8
   
4. https://www.amazon.de/Fischsauce-Nuoc-Sieu-Hang-Quoc/dp/B003VFPOF2
   
   The other fish sauce listings are Thai (and will have a different flavor profile)

here's a proxy for you, 2 carbs per tbs

fish sauce on amazon

You've never had Blis fish sauce.

It is. I use this brand. It's just salt and sardines, as it should be. Other brands have sugar.

Red Boat Premium Fish Sauce, 500 ml (17 oz.) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B617XK2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_zu2nDb7JRCGR6

http://www.amazon.com/Red-Boat-Fish-Sauce-500/dp/B00B617XK2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395259705&sr=8-1&keywords=red+boat+fish+sauce+40%C2%B0n

Probably fish sauce which is used in a lot of cuisine around the world

Here's the one I have bookmarked. I cut back on the Hawaiian sea salt and substitute in some Red Boat fish sauce for a real umami bomb.

https://nomnompaleo.com/post/10031990774/slow-cooker-kalua-pig