I am really fortunate to live in a place with a lot of access to Korean Markets. I'm not particularly brand loyal and always looking to try something new. My last batch of kimchi turned out better than usual using Lucky Fish Sauce - from Thailand.
I'm really into fishing, hunting, and foraging so I have some experience making my own fish sauce. I'll dig around for the recipe I used and post it below. I remember it being fairly simple and straight forward.
Fermentation is all about ratios of salt to organic material.
Rough chop 4 or 5 small fish. I use fresh caught mackerel. Use the whole fish- bones, guts, and all. The digestive enzymes in it's stomach helps break it down.
Mix with 25% salt by weight of the fish.
Put in a vessel.
Put weight on top of chopped fish. I have thick glass discs but you can use whatever handy. I've used cleaned pebbles before. The idea is to push the solids down below the liquid line when the salt expresses the fish's moisture.
Loosely put a lid on the vessel. It will need to slowly express gas. There is special equipment available but I hardly ever use it. You can also "burp" the vessel every once in a while.
It actually doesn't smell as bad as you'd think.
Let sit for 6 months to a year. The longer the more depth of flavor. Filter out the remaining solids using a coffee filter or clean old sock. Enjoy your fish sauce.
I'm sure it can be done with cleaned and processed fish too. I have a buddy that did it with ground beef. They said, and I quote, "it was disgusting but I couldn't stop eating it."
Great questions. I've used garlic in a fish sauce to try and approximate a cambodian fish sauce I tried once and fell in love with. It came out pretty well. I love experimenting with flavors once I get a good recipe down. The only draw back is a 6 month investment of time is a lot to gamble on anything too crazy. There are ways to speed up the process using koji (aspergillus oryzae), an edible mold, but that's another whole can of worms.
Most fermentation benefits from steady temps in the mid to low 70s but I don't fret too much about it. I just put it in a closet. I do have a fermentation chamber I've built for more temperamental ferments (beer, tempeh, growing koji spores) but I didn't need it for years. Most ferments are pretty forgiving.
My current fish sauce is in the fridge in a glass condiment bottle who's origin I've long forgotten.
Sorry for the long winded response. I've been drinking and I geek out hard on this stuff. Good luck! Hit me up if you have any more questions.
I posted one from Sandor Katz's Art of Fermentation in this thread. It's a long wait letting nature take its course. It's worth the struggle to get your hands on some.
I am really fortunate to live in a place with a lot of access to Korean Markets. I'm not particularly brand loyal and always looking to try something new. My last batch of kimchi turned out better than usual using Lucky Fish Sauce - from Thailand.
I'm really into fishing, hunting, and foraging so I have some experience making my own fish sauce. I'll dig around for the recipe I used and post it below. I remember it being fairly simple and straight forward.
-ANIMAL BUTCHERY WARNING
Fermentation is all about ratios of salt to organic material.
Rough chop 4 or 5 small fish. I use fresh caught mackerel. Use the whole fish- bones, guts, and all. The digestive enzymes in it's stomach helps break it down.
Mix with 25% salt by weight of the fish.
Put in a vessel.
Put weight on top of chopped fish. I have thick glass discs but you can use whatever handy. I've used cleaned pebbles before. The idea is to push the solids down below the liquid line when the salt expresses the fish's moisture.
Loosely put a lid on the vessel. It will need to slowly express gas. There is special equipment available but I hardly ever use it. You can also "burp" the vessel every once in a while.
It actually doesn't smell as bad as you'd think.
Let sit for 6 months to a year. The longer the more depth of flavor. Filter out the remaining solids using a coffee filter or clean old sock. Enjoy your fish sauce.
Thank you! I will for sure try this once I can find whole fish
I'm sure it can be done with cleaned and processed fish too. I have a buddy that did it with ground beef. They said, and I quote, "it was disgusting but I couldn't stop eating it."
deleted by creator
Great questions. I've used garlic in a fish sauce to try and approximate a cambodian fish sauce I tried once and fell in love with. It came out pretty well. I love experimenting with flavors once I get a good recipe down. The only draw back is a 6 month investment of time is a lot to gamble on anything too crazy. There are ways to speed up the process using koji (aspergillus oryzae), an edible mold, but that's another whole can of worms.
Most fermentation benefits from steady temps in the mid to low 70s but I don't fret too much about it. I just put it in a closet. I do have a fermentation chamber I've built for more temperamental ferments (beer, tempeh, growing koji spores) but I didn't need it for years. Most ferments are pretty forgiving.
My current fish sauce is in the fridge in a glass condiment bottle who's origin I've long forgotten.
Sorry for the long winded response. I've been drinking and I geek out hard on this stuff. Good luck! Hit me up if you have any more questions.
deleted by creator
I'd love a recipe for Fish sauce! I have a bunch of indian/pakistani grocers near me, but not haven't look for an aisian mart.
I posted one from Sandor Katz's Art of Fermentation in this thread. It's a long wait letting nature take its course. It's worth the struggle to get your hands on some.