[Sca-cooks] needing nuoc cham advice

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Phillipa asked:
>  Can someone give me advice about what to do if I want to have a totally
>  vegan sauce and don;t want to use the fish sauce?  Should I just leave it
>  out, or what should I use to replace the nam pla?

>  nuoc cham is the indispensable sauce of Vietnam's cuisine
>
>  1/2 cup fresh lime juice
>  1/4 cup sugar
>  3 tablespoons fermented fish sauce (nam pla)*
>  1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
>  1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
>  2 garlic cloves, minced
>  1 teaspoon minced jalape=F1o chili with seeds
>
>  For dipping sauce:
>  Whisk all ingredients in medium bowl until sugar dissolves. Let stand at
>  least 30 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.)

Pixel, Goddess and Queen helpfully replied:
>  I found a vegan substitute on the 'net. Google is your friend. :-)
>
>  http://yumfood.net/recipes/fishsauce-vg.html

So i checked it out. Here's the recipe from the above link:

4. Mock Fish Sauce:

1 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs soy sauce (Vietnamese, if possible)
2 Tbs water
1 Tbs roasted peanuts
1 tsp kelp powder or kombu powder (if available)
1 fresh hot chili pepper, seeds removed (optional)

Put all in blender. Blend until smooth. Thin with water to soy sauce
consistency. Store in fridge.

----- end recipe -----

This is a NOT a fish sauce substitute. It is a salad sauce recipe.

For your experiment, Phillipa, do not, i repeat, do NOT add the
sugar, the peanuts, or the chili peppers. These are added to certain
sauces, and are not an integral part of fish sauce. For example, your
sauce recipe adds sugar and chili. You don't need to put them in the
"fake fish sauce".

I suppose the kelp or kumbu powder (kombu is kelp) is there to add a
"sea" flavor. I never noticed any Southeast Asian fish sauce tasting
like kelp, but what the heck...

There's no truly adequate substitute for fish sauce, but try soy
sauce, perhaps with a little extra salt (fish sauce is pretty salty),
then thinned with water. Won't be much like fish sauce, but will add
a "rich" and salty flavor.

Seriously, leave out the peanuts, the sugar, and the chili. Really.

Anahita
Southeast Asian food afficianado and sometimes SEA food cooking instructor,
who ate at a Cambodian restaurant Friday night...