Fish sauce and umami
Small fish like anchovies get packed in salt and left for months. Enzymes break their proteins into free amino acids, including glutamate, the compound behind umami. One splash adds salt and savory depth. It smells loud in the bottle and mild once cooked in.
Add it early and late
Add some early, and heat blends its savory depth into the dish while the sharpest aroma fades. Add a splash at the end for a fresher, stronger smell. Many cooks do both. Fish sauce is salty, so cut back on added salt first.
Test yourself
Questions from the interactive lesson, with the answer and the why.
Fish sauce makes a soup taste deeper and meatier, not fishy. What is mostly behind that?
Free amino acids such as glutamate. They are the savory umami compounds made as fish proteins break down.
True or false: Fish sauce is only salty, so it adds no flavor beyond what table salt does.
False. Fermentation frees glutamate and other savory compounds, so fish sauce adds depth that plain salt can't.
What went wrong? You add all the salt the recipe calls for, then three spoonfuls of fish sauce. The stir-fry comes out harsh and far too salty.
Fish sauce already carries salt, so it doubled up. Fish sauce is a salty liquid. Reduce plain salt when you use it.
Fill the blank: The savory depth in fish sauce comes from ___, freed as fish proteins break down.
The savory depth in fish sauce comes from glutamate, freed as fish proteins break down. This amino acid triggers the umami taste.
A splash of fish sauce at the end smells stronger than the same splash cooked for twenty minutes. Why?
Long heat drives off some of its volatile aroma. Aroma compounds evaporate with heat, so cooked-in fish sauce smells milder.