My history with the funky smelling sauce from Asia made from fermenting small fish in the presence of salt extends back just about 30 years. The first half dozen of those years, however, I didn’t have a clue that it was a part of the Thai, Vietnamese, and Korean dishes I was consuming on a somewhat regular basis. No, it wasn’t until the late 1980s when I started seriously studying these and other Asian cuisines that I came to understand its properties and to grasp its role as both a seasoning and flavoring ingredient and its importance in the various culinary cultures of Southeast Asia and beyond.
I first noticed bottles of Tiparos brand of Nam Pla from Thailand and Pufina Pastis from the Philippines in the kitchens of a number of friends from the Philippines, and there seemed to be little bowls of it on the table at every meal. I wasn’t brand conscious at the time, nor was I aware that there might be differences in the way they were made from one country to another - and at the time I’m not sure if I even read the various ingredients lists. I distinctly remember buying Tiparos for the first few years, and then switching to the Three Crabs brand from Thailand, since it was most often recommended by the authors whose cook books I was working from. At the time, I also had no clue that the fish sauce made on the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc was considered to be some of the best in Southeast Asia, if not the world. I also didn't know that because of the post-war embargo, it was impossible to buy Vietnamese fish sauce in this country - hence the recommendations for Three Crabs brand at the time even by Vietnamese chefs in this country.
Well, over the next few posts I hope to make some sense out of the smelly world of fish sauce, and in part through the process of comparative tasting decide for myself where the quality fish sauces are made...Vietnam's Nuoc Mam, Thailand's Nam Pla, The Philippines' Pastis, Korea's Aekjeot, or Japan's Shottsuru.
