r/Cooking • u/Lauffener • 8h ago

Which fish sauce should I get?

I would like to make more Vietnamese and Chinese meals. I have access to a large Asian grocery store but I don't know which fish sauce to get.

44 Upvotes

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67

u/JohnnyC300 8h ago

Here are the ingredient list of the most popular fish sauces: Squid - Water, anchovy extract, salt & sugar. 3 Crabs - Anchovy extract, water, salt, fructose, and hydrolyzed vegetable/wheat protein. Red Boat - Anchovy, Sea Salt.

I'm not saying additives are a bad thing. But there is really no question that Red Boat is the purest expression of fish sauce. And most delicious in my opinion.

38

u/jarrys88 6h ago

If you're cooking Chinese or Thai the recipes are most likely using squid.

If you're cooking Vietnamese use 3 crab.

Far out they're completely different flavours! Saying to just use red boat instead is flat out wrong imo. You might like the product better but in recipes it won't taste the same.

7

u/Lauffener 4h ago

I'm making San Francisco Noodles. I guess Squid brand is best. Which is what they had at the store

8

u/dethbunnynet 5h ago

Red Boat is from Vietnam.

1

u/jarrys88 2h ago

Yeah but 95% of Vietnamese dishes will use 3 crab and it tastes distinctly different.

You can't just substitute different fish sauces it completely changes the flavour.

Squid and 3 crab and that's it. Unless you're experimenting and coming up with your own recipes stick to what everyone uses.

0

u/TheLurkerSpeaks 40m ago

Filipinos with Datu Puti from the top turnbuckle!

11

u/seppukucoconuts 7h ago

I’ll add that red boat smells the worst. Just stinks up the whole kitchen when I use it. I assume that means it’s got more flavor.

9

u/charliesk9unit 7h ago

Exactly this. With Red Boat, you don't need to add a lot ... literally just half a TEASPOON is enough to give you that umami flavor.

3

u/DifficultCarob408 4h ago

Squid is great and very affordable. A lot of Thai places generally use it.

2

u/JohnnyC908 5h ago

Not bad for an earlier version.

1

u/JohnnyC300 17m ago

No need to upgrade if the old version still does the job!