Bicol express with baguio beans

Fish bicol express with baguio beans is a liquid condiment made from fish or krill that have been coated in salt and fermented for up to two years. Due to its ability to add a savory umami flavor to dishes, it has been embraced globally by chefs and home cooks. The umami flavor in fish sauce is due to its glutamate content.

Fish sauce is used as a seasoning during or after cooking, and as a base in dipping sauces. Soy sauce is regarded by some in the West as a vegetarian alternative to fish sauce though they are very different in flavor. Sauces that included fermented fish parts with other ingredients such as meat and soy bean were recorded in China, 2300 years ago. During the Zhou dynasty of ancient China, fish fermented with soybeans and salt was used as a condiment. A fish sauce, called kôechiap in Hokkien Chinese, might be the precursor of ketchup.

By 50-100 BC, demand for fish sauces and fish pastes in China had fallen drastically, with fermented bean products becoming a major trade commodity. Fish sauce, however, developed massive popularity in Southeast Asia. Fish sauces were widely used in ancient Mediterranean cuisine. 3rd century BC by the Ancient Greeks, who fermented scraps of fish called garos into one. It is believed to have been made with a lower salt content than modern fish sauces.

The Romans made a similar condiment called either garum or liquamen. According to Pliny the Elder, “garum consists of the guts of fish and other parts that would otherwise be considered refuse so that garum is really the liquor from putrefaction. Garum was ubiquitous in Classical Roman cooking. Mixed with wine it was known as oenogarum, or with vinegar, oxygarum, or mixed with honey, meligarum. Garum was one of the trade specialties in Hispania Baetica. In English garum was formerly translated as fish pickle.

The original Worcestershire sauce is a related product because it is fermented and contains anchovies. While fish sauce and oyster sauce are both briny and may have related histories, they are different products. Fish sauce is watery, clear, and salty, whereas oyster sauce is made by reducing oyster extracts and therefore sweeter with a hint of salt and not as strong an aroma as fish sauce. Fish sauces historically have been prepared from different species of fish and shellfish, and from using the whole fish, or by using just fish blood or viscera. Most modern fish sauces contain only fish and salt, usually made from anchovy, shrimp, mackerel, or other strong-flavored, high oil fish.

Once the original draft has been made, some fish sauces will be produced through a re-extraction of the fish mass via boiling. To improve the visual appearance and add taste, second-pass fish sauces often have added caramel, molasses, or roasted rice. They are thinner, and less costly. Some volume manufacturers of fish sauce will also water down a first-press to manufacture more products. Fish sauce that has been only briefly fermented has a pronounced fishy taste.

Extended fermentation reduces this and gives the product a nuttier, richer and more savory flavor. Southeast Asian fish sauce is often made from anchovies, salt, and water, and is intensely flavoured. Anchovies and salt are arranged in wooden barrels to ferment and are slowly pressed, yielding the salty, fishy liquid. The salt extracts the liquid via osmosis. Southeast Asians generally use fish sauce as a cooking sauce.

However, there is a sweet and sour version of this sauce which is used more commonly as a dipping sauce. Just like prahok, it is believed to date back to the pre-Angkorean era. Industrially fish sauce is produced by mixing trei aing keuy or anchovies with coarse salt and fermenting it in large wooden vats. A chunkier, more aromatic version known as padaek is also used.

The Philippine fish sauce is known as patis. It is one of the most important ingredients in Filipino cuisine. Patis is nearly always cooked prior to consumption, even when used as an accent to salads or other raw dishes. Patis is also used as an ingredient in cooked dishes, including a rice porridge called arroz caldo, and as a condiment for fried fish. In Isan, it is called nam pa. In Thailand, fish sauce is used both in cooking and also served at the table as a condiment, for instance in noodle soups. Nearly every Thai meal is served with phrik nam pla as a condiment: a mixture of fish sauce, lime juice, and chopped bird’s eye chilies.

Sliced garlic is often added to this sauce. Historically, there were two types of fish sauce made in Thailand: that made with a fresh-water fish, pla soi, and sauce made from a salt-water fish, pla kratak. Either fish is fermented for at least eight months, three parts fish to two parts salt. This yields the best fish sauce called the “base”. The dregs are then mixed with water and salt and again fermented for three to four months. Thai fish sauces due to a lack of information about tests for botulinum toxin.

The toxin can cause death if more than 0. The variety from Vietnam is called nước mắm. There are two areas in Vietnam that are most famous for producing fish sauce: Phú Quốc and Phan Thiết. Fish sauce has a 300 year history dating back to the Champa kingdom of the Cham people.