# Fish sauce

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fish-sauce/603954>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 24, 2011, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fish-sauce/603954 "2011-11-24T04:08:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fish-sauce/603954/21 "2011-11-28T00:08:57Z")

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> [@jjimm](#):
>
> Maybe it’s different in the Philippines but the top-of-the-range stuff in Thailand is pungent, yes, but doesn’t smell like fish in the usual sense of the word.

sauces don’t really smell like fish (whether in the philippine, vietnam or thailand.) the ‘fishy smell’ is the ferment. thai sauce is basically prepared the same way as the filipino. they just almost always serve theirs with red-hot chilies. filipinos, on the other hand, like to use it as a cooking condiment.

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**Author:** ![deadindays](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@deadindays](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deadindays)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fish-sauce/603954/22 "2011-11-30T01:05:05Z")

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There are two types of fish sauces in the Philippines (maybe in other Asian countries as well): one for cooking and the other, much lighter, for dipping. The latter, with a bit of calamansi juice, is absolutely divine

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**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fish-sauce/603954/23 "2011-11-30T04:43:56Z")

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actually there’s a near-infinite variety. if you go farther south, you’ll see fish sauce fermented from fish entrails, oyster, mussels, sea urchin, tuna, etc. the most unusual i tasted was fermented squid: black with the ink and slimy as your worst nightmare.

NB: calamansi, for everyone’s info, is a small variety of lime which filipinos use for juice, cooking, condiments, dips.

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