Soy sauce vs Fish sauce?

[Roger Frankham]

When substituting soy sauce for fish sauce, is it the same quantities?
Tablespoon for tablespoon, or less of one?

Also, is there a substitute for shrimp paste?
One that is non seafood.

Thanks in advance,

Roger

[natty]

A very good question! The short answer is: it depends.

Even among fish sauces, some brands are saltier than others. Basically,
fish sauce is made by putting salt over fish and then letting it sit and
then straining and boiling out the juice. Some companies add salt water to
dilute it and reduce their costs. So the saltiness is determined by how
much salt they add in the process.

Which soy sauce are you substituting? For soy sauce, there's even more
variety. Among the soy sauces, there are Japanese soy sauces, Chinese soy
sauces, Thai soy sauces... Dark soy sauce, dark sweet soy sauce, mushroom
soy sauce etc. Each type and each brand tastes different.

What cuisine are you cooking? If you are cooking Thai food, I would
recommend mushroom soy sauce for the substitution. The brand of mushroom
soy sauce that I use is less salty than the fish sauce I normally use.

If you are cooking Thai food, it is really a 'taste as you cook cuisine'
where the proportions specified in a recipe will give you guideline but
can't give you what you will personally find tastes the best. It's a trial
and error process. Most of the Thai dishes can be adjusted prior to
serving.

Yes, there is a substitution of shrimp paste. I'm assuming that you are
cooking Thai food. In the old days, when transportation was not as
convenient as today in Thailand, people up north had didn't have shrimp
paste. They use 'tua now' instead. 'Tua now' is boiled soy beans mixed
with salt that have been aged and sun dried. They come in a flat pieces
like tortillas. 'Tua now' is not common for folks down south where the
ocean is nearby. I have never seen it in the US. But where are you? You
should be able to find it in Thailand.

I'm curious, what makes you want to substitute shrimp paste? Or the fish
sauce? Can you tell me more about what you are trying to cook, so I might
be able to give you a specific recommendation.

Natty

Roger Frankham <energ...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:23671-38...@storefull-296.iap.bryant.webtv.net...

[TJ]

<< When substituting soy sauce for fish sauce, is it the same quantities?
Tablespoon for tablespoon, or less of one?

Also, is there a substitute for shrimp paste?
One that is non seafood.

Thanks in advance,

Roger >>

From the newborn alt.food.asian FAQ:
<begin quote>:
What are good vegetarian substitutes for fish products?

I picked this off a flashy commercial site because it looked like a 'feature of
the month', and might vanish:
FISH SAUCE
"Nam Pla" in Thai A thin, amber colored, salty
sauce, is the predominant seasoning sauce used in Thai cooking. In Thai
vegetarian cooking, fish sauce is usually substituted by a Light (thin) Soy
Sauce. However, to maintain the taste and smell of fish sauce, a minimal amount
of soy sauce is used , but add additional salt and solids of two vegetarian
ingredients, salted yellow beans and fermented tofu (bean curd), a pungent
product of cubed tofu pickled in brine, sometimes with chili added.

OYSTER SAUCE
"Nam Mun Hoy" in Thai Oyster sauce is used in some
Thai dishes. It is a rich, thick brown sauce made from fermented dried oyster.
Sin Tai Hing/ Vegetarian Oyster Sauce is a 100 percent vegetarian version made
from mushroom and vegetable protein. It can be used in any recipe as a
vegetarian substitute for oyster sauce.

SHRIMP PASTE
"Kapi" in Thai Kapi is a salted-fermented shrimp
product used widely in Thai cooking to give the food its characteristic deep
and vibrant flavors. Kapi can be
substituted with various salt-fermented soy bean products such as yellow bean
sauce, chinese bean pastes, fermented tofu in brine.

DRIED SHRIMP
"Goong Haeng" in Thai Dried shrimp has been
replaced by a variety of bean products, roasted nut or coconut.
<end quote>

As for how much soy to use for fish sauce, I think it depends on the saltiness.
I'd start with half to equal amounts and taste test.
HTH
tj

[A Ferszt]

Keep in mind that these are not true substitutes in that the
flavour of the finished dish will be different than if the
fish-based products had been used.

You can just leave out the offending items. Not everyone in
Thailand or Vietnam uses them.
> tj

[C. J. Fuller]

Natty-I'm assuming that Roger may be a vegetarian who doesn't eat fish or
seafood. There are several books that give "Buddhist" substitutes for
recipes containing fish sauce or shrimp paste. Classic Cuisine of Vietnam
by Bach Ngo and Gloria Zimmerman (which may be out of print) is one
example.

You're right about fish sauces varying widely. I bought some Phu Quoc
fish sauce last time and it's very light and flavorful. It doesn't
overpower the other ingredients as some brands do. It was about twice as
expensive as the standard brands, but it was worth it.

Cindy

--
C.J. Fuller
<mailto:cjfu...@erickson.uncg.edu>
<mailto:cjfu...@mindspring.com>