FISH SAUCE

Is the definition of “eternity” a full bottle of fish sauce? Photo from Addilyn Ragsdill Clockworklemon on unsplash.

Q. “Hello Bill, What the heck can I do with an almost full bottle of fish sauce that I purchased for a recipe?  Can it be frozen?  Do you have some yummy recipes that will use up most of the bottle?” Linda B.

A. Linda: Keep in mind that fish sauce (sometimes called nuoc mam in the Vietnamese, Vietnam being a major supplier of it to us in the West) is dead, fermented fish and much salt; it's nearly unspoilable because it is “spoiled” to make it. 

I keep my fish sauce almost indefinitely, 3-4 years at a time, before buying a "fresh bottle." I also use fish sauce in places few people think to use it: in place of salt in liquid preparations such as braises or stocks (1:1 teaspoon:teaspoon) or a splash in some scrambled eggs. A drizzle of it even has served as a substitute for anchovy paste in fashioning a Caesar salad. 

That's the way the ancient Romans used it, as "salt," and for the amazing amount of umami that it introduces to preparations of foods. (They invented it; they should know.) The so-called "fishiness" rather disappears with any application of heat, or remains when you want it (in, say, a Caesar dressing). Plus, that umami . .

Yes, it can be frozen. No, I have no recipes that use it up in one swell foop.