I was in the process of making sinigang, a tangy Filipino soup, when I had to decide on a brand of fish sauce to use. One Crab, Golden Boy and Cock Brands were already in my pantry. These were purchased earlier and based on my work studying different brands during my trips to various Asian markets. I usually cook with Tiparos Brand but felt the need to try something different. Especially when I am blogging about the subject.
My brand loyalty comes from my childhood days of being exposed to my parents cooking with Tiparos. Up until recently, I've never used any other brand. This seems to be the popular choice among Filipinos; perhaps Ilocanos in Hawaii. I can also recall that there was always a gallon jar of bagoong stored in the pantry too. More on this cooking staple in another post.
In my last blog post, a link to Andrea Nguyen's Viet World Kitchen website is found. She has a fish sauce buying guide that you will find filled with useful information. It serves as a guide to assist you in selecting a few interesting brands as I've done here.
Trying to be objective and quick with my selection, I used the following criteria for today's tasting: Color, Aroma, Saltiness, Versatility, Ingredient List, Origin
Color
What first caught my eye in this tasting was the differing degrees of caramel color of each fish sauce. Not just in the bottle but markedly in the white sauce dishes. The lighter color generally means that the sauce is of a better quality. The higher grades are best used as a dipping sauce. Golden Boy Brand appeared to have the lightest degree of coloration. I'm wondering if the inferior brands are exposed to more oxygen. Just as freshly cut apples or pears turn color by a process called oxidation, fermenting fish will do the same. So, does fish sauce go bad? Watch Corinne Trang's video on Chow.com for the answer.
Aroma
Fish sauce is pungent. For the uninitiated, it may be the deal-breaker and cause for a hasty substitution with soy sauce. But don't hold your noses just yet! These brands weren't overpowering and even had a sweetness about them. One Crab and Golden Boy brands were close in this category. The former was not as strong. One Crab Brand by a narrow margin. In fact, I had to go back and forth several times among these sauces to reach this decision.
Saltiness
I think of fish sauce as a liquid form of salt. Cock Brand was the saltier of the three while Golden Boy Brand seemed to have the least salty impact on my taste buds. This reminds me that I have to be careful when using different brands and adjust recipes accordingly. Interestingly, there is a difference of opinion regarding salt crystals and refrigeration among the brands tested today. They are as follows: One Crab Brand - "Refrigerate after opening"; Golden Boy Brand - "Do not store the product under refrigeration. Salt crystals may form in cold condition."; Cock Brand - "Harmless to health the natural phenomena, if salt crystal granules appeared." My suspicion is that an opened bottle is no longer air-tight which allows water to evaporate from the fish sauce. As this occurs over time and repeated use, the concentration of salt will increase. A point will be reached where there is no longer enough water for the salt to dissolve. The salt will come-out-of-solution and eventually crystalize.
Versatility
Like soy sauce, fish sauce brings the "umami" factor, the savory depth, to a recipe. All brands, have this impact. Savoriness has to do with the concentration of MSG-like products (amino acids) derived from the fermentation process. If I had space for only one fish sauce in my pantry, I'd pick the one that can be used in a dipping sauce and for cooking. Golden Boy Brand fits this critieria.
Ingredient List
Golden Boy: Anchovy Fish, Salt, Sugar
One Crab: Anchovy Extract, Water, Salt, Fructose and Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein
Cock: Anchovy Fish - 68%, Salt, Sugar
Being familiar with the varying qualities of soy sauce, I came to understand that this also holds true for fish sauce. The premium fish sauce products have no water or additives. Aside from the obvious fish and salt, notice that a sweetener is used in all brands. Fructose is specified in the cock brand; this also has added hydrolyzed protein. Without elaborating on fermentation, the hydrolyzed protein adds to the product what would have taken months to acheive if the natural process was left on its own. I prefer a product that is left to ferment naturally. This leaves One Crab out. Cock Brand was the only one with a percentage of anchovy fish. Does this mean other types of fish were used? One Crab Brand lists anchovy extract. Does this imply the mixing of fish sauce? I wish I could interview these manufacturers.
Origin
Nuoc Mam? Don't be fooled by the packaging! Read the fine print. The bottle label may refer to Vietnam but all brands tasted are products of Thailand. Thanks to our restrictive trade agreements we are not able to obtain fish sauce from Vietnam legally. If you are able to get your hands on artisinal fish sauce from Phu Quoc Island, consider yourself lucky. Be on the look out for true Vietnamese fish sauce in Asian markets in the near future.
Conclusion
In this tasting, Golden Boy Brand would have been used for my sinigang. I ended up using all three of the brands as I didn't want to waste the fish sauce left in the sauce dishes. Coincidentally, the amount was just enough to season my broth. The next time you are out purchasing fish sauce, consider purchasing several so you can draw your own conclusions. Let me know what you find. Nothing beats tasting and smelling your own fish sauce.
On this cool night in March, I was treated to Chef Michael at work back of the house. Sitting at the kitchen counter for me is like sitting first row on the 50 yard line in a football stadium, behind the home team's bench at a basketball game or baseball's first baseline. I just prefer watching the kitchen crew over millionaire jocks.
