[dropcap]As[/dropcap] my interest in food and cooking grows, I’m also trying to expand my knowledge on and experience with different ingredients. The diversity of Asian ingredients for example, is both mind-boggling and fascinating, and sometimes, I feel quite overwhelmed by the available selection when I walk into a large Asian supermarket. Asian sauces are some of my favourite ingredients to work with – along with spices and herbs. Packed full of deliciousness, sauces often add that essential element to a dish that gives it it’s distinctive/signature savoury/ambrosial character/personality.
Fish sauce and soy sauce are two ancient and popular concoctions that are often found in many Asian (and multi-cultured) kitchens across the world. These two sauces, although different in make up and essence, both possess an amalgam of key/mouth-watering flavours, including salty, savoury/umami and sweet. A splash of fish sauce and/or soy sauce, some chopped chilies and herbs, a dash of citrus/vinegar can create a simple yet magnificent dipping sauce/dressing that can suitably complement many dishes/meals.
Not so long ago, I didn’t take too much notice on the difference in flavours between the different brands of fish sauce and soy sauce. As much as I endeavour to not be a brand snob – for someone who wants to study food and cooking on a deeper level, I can’t help but not take note on the differences in these brands. 1
When it came to buying fish sauce and soy sauce, I used to base my decision purely on which brand was available and/or which brand was the cheapest. Not having been too fussy with the taste of my own home cooking, I was content with my choice of sauces. Recently though, besides the myriad of other interesting ingredients in an Asian supermarket, I’ve noticed these different brands and have decided to investigate them a little further to see if there’s anything to fuss about. 2
For this post, I’ve taste-tested and provided my humble opinion on one ‘ground preserved fish sauce’, two ‘fish sauces’, and three ‘light soy sauces’. I know that I’ve barely scratched the surface in tasting the different types of Asian sauces and the brands that make them, but these are my stepping stones. In my kitchen, fish sauce and light soy sauce are two of my favourite and regularly used sauces. Other sauces that I can’t live without are oyster sauce and chili sauce, and I plan to write a similar post for these on a later date.
It is true that different sauce brands make sauces that differ in taste, and these subtle differences can play a big part in recipes. However, without sounding like I’m preaching – at the end of the day, it’s not really about the brand but more about how you use the ingredient/sauce. I know many cooks, including my mum who can use humble/inexpensive ingredients and turn them into extraordinary creations. After saying that, let’s see how some of these sauces taste.
So dear readers, what are some of your favourite Asian sauces? Do you have a favourite brand of fish sauce or soy sauce, or doesn’t it really matter for you?
Phu Quoc – Mam Nem an lien dac biet – Ground Preserved Fish Sauce
Super/Wok Brand – Product of Thailand
‘For cooking or mixing with fish chilli paste, papaya salad (Somtam), and Northeastern style curry and soup’.
Ingredients: Pickled Gouramy Fish (Gouramy fish, Salt) 80%, Water 18%, Monosodium Glutamate (E621) 1.90%, Sodium Benzoate (E211) 0.10% Contain: Fish.
I can’t believe it but this is the closest thing that I could find at my local Asian supermarket to ‘padaek’ sauce. Although it doesn’t mention padaek or pla-ra on the label, my taste test proves that it does indeed taste very much like padaek as I remember/know it. The flavour of this ‘ground preserved fish sauce’ is sensational! It brought a flood of happy memories and taste bud satisfaction and I couldn’t stop tasting it. The flavour of the sauce is very delicious – extremely savoury/umami and addictive/moreish. The sauce is a dark/murky/thick/luscious blend. You can see in the photo of the sauce in the dish below, that there’s very fine ground sediments of fish particles in the sauce (no bones or meaty objects though). This only adds to the charm of the thickened, preserved fish sauce. The pungency of padaek/fermented fish sauce is evident in this sauce but it is not overpowering nor overbearing. I love the taste of this sauce so much and can’t wait to use it to make jeow and tum som with it. As you can tell from my excitement, I’ve not purchased commercial padaek before, and although this sauce is not as good as mum’s, it sure does taste like very good padaek (and would make a great option), and will add lovely dimension to my cooking/recipes.
Phu Quoc – Mam Nem an lien dac biet – Ground Preserved Fish Sauce
Notice the fine ground sediments of fish and the earthy thick colour of the fish sauce which are reminiscent of padaek sauce? And it tastes so good!
Squid Brand Fish Sauce
Manufactured By: Thai Fishsauce Factory (Squid Brand) Co., Ltd., Bangkok Thailand
This fish sauce is a classic and can often be found at many good Asian stores/supermarkets. It is affordable, comes in a few different sizes and tastes great. I grew up with this fish sauce, and I am very familiar with the flavour. The fish sauce is savoury, salty and strong. It is a rich sauce with a sharp flavour. The aroma is also strong and pungent. Because of the concentration/intensity of this sauce, you don’t need too much of it to flavour a dish/recipe. I love the bright green lid. When I was younger, I used to think that it was made out of squid because of its brand name and logo.
Squid Brand Fish Sauce
An intense flavour, colour and aroma. Delicious, strong, salty, savoury fish sauce taste.
Three Crabs Brand Fish Sauce
Product of Hong Kong.
First time I’ve used/tasted this fish sauce, and its markedly different to the Squid brand. As you can see the colour is lighter, and the flavour is also more subtle and refined. I found the taste to be flavoursome, sweet, delicate/smooth and delicious. It’s a nice difference to the Squid brand, perhaps just a different character/type of fish sauce. The aroma is also more subtle than the Squid brand.
Three Crabs Brand Fish Sauce
A lovely, clearer colouration compared to the Squid brand fish sauce.
Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce
Product of China
I’ve used Lee Kum Kee oyster sauces before but I believe this is the first time I’ve used their Premium Soy Sauce. I wanted to try a new good quality light soy sauce and asked the owner of the Asian supermarket to recommend one for me, and he said this one was the best. I enjoy using light soy sauce in stir-frys and also in dipping sauces, and this one is an excellent choice. The sauce is richly dark in colour and smells sweet, smooth and refined. The flavour is delicious, subtly sweet with an obvious soy taste. The appearance of the sauce is intense, thick yet smooth. It smells and tastes appetisingly sweet and complex. It is very flavourful and I can see and taste why it is popular and recommended.
Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce
Rich, dark sauce with complex, appetising flavours.
Maggi Cooking Sauce
Product of Thailand, Maggi Brand Soy Sauce, Packed by Nestle.
A delicious light Maggi brand soy sauce/cooking sauce. This sauce is also very flavourful with a good balance of subtle sweet light soy taste. Easy to use flavours, and the aroma of this sauce immediately reminds of sunny side up fried eggs for breakfast. This sauce is great as a seasoning sauce for stir fries and also to season congee, fried eggs, etc. Delicious, affordable and safe plastic bottle.
Maggi Cooking Sauce
For me, a delicious/palatable and classic tasting light soy/seasoning sauce.
Thin Soy Sauce – Healthy Boy Brand
Product of Thailand
First time I’ve tried this thin/light soy sauce also. This sauce is distinctly different to both the Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce and the Maggi cooking sauce above, although I can’t pinpoint exactly what that difference is. I think that perhaps, this sauce has a more pronounced salty and mildy bitter taste to it? It is still a delicious light/thin sauce and would make a great addition in stir-fries or to season dishes with. All of the three light soy sauces tastes delicious, with their own distinct differences/character, but I think that LKK is my favourite. It is the most flavoursome, appetising and smooth light soy sauce out of the three, although it is also the most expensive, although not by much.
Thin Soy Sauce – Healthy Boy Brand
Delicious and distinctive flavour with the colour of the sauce being the lightest out of the three soy sauces.
Notes:
- I am using the term brand to refer to the product by that brand as exemplified in this post. From my brief research, I noticed that a lot of these brands have just one product in either the fish sauce or soy sauce category, although some brands such as LKK have several variations of soy sauce on the market. Reference: http://au-nz.lkk.com/en/Products/ConsumerProduct/Soy%20Sauce. ↩
- Please note that there’s a huge variety of soy sauces available, and different countries/cuisines have a spectrum of types (and names) of soy sauces. The couple of soy sauce examples compared in this post are light soy sauces. I hope to compare other types of soy sauces, and other sauces (oyster sauce, chili sauce, etc.) in future posts. For more info on soy sauce, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soy_sauce. ↩