Ok teeming millions hit me with the low down on fish sauce. In my youth, I discovered Thai cooking and generally love most dishes but the NamTok is my favorite damn is it’s spicy little bit sour salty got lean medium rare steak just off the charts for my taste buds. But now I’ve got high blood pressure and I’m restricted my salt and sugar intake but that little bottle and my takeout Thai restaurant are in my dreams. What’s the scoop a quick look online suggests its a good sodium substitute falls in line with anchovies and sardines also being in a lower your blood pressure diet
Fish sauce is very high in sodium. I just looked at my bottle, and the nutrition facts label says that one tablespoon has 1430 mg of sodium, or 60% of RDA. That’s a little more than the amount of sodium in half a teaspoon of table salt.
YEA I know that but getting conflicting reports like this Lot of sources saying watch out for brands cut with water and salt.
Fish sauce as good for you as it is a good source of iron, riboflavin, niacin, magnesium, Vitamin B12 and B6. It is a good appetizer I would say, one of my favorite condiment on our table when eating. Fish sauce is a condiment made from fish coated in salt and fermented from weeks to up to two years. It is used as a staple seasoning in various cuisines in Southeast and East Asia, particularly Indonesian, Burmese, Cambodian, Filipino, Thai, Lao, and Vietnamese It is palatable and more convenient to use. It is a ready to use condiment when cooking meat, chicken or beef. Adding fish sauce to your cooking not only may reduce the amount of refined sodium you consume, but may also have a beneficial impact on your blood pressure. Also perfect for meat or fish marinates or a quick kitchen ingredient when cooking Asian dishes. And available on handy bottles that you can purchase on groceries.
Ive also heard that Pink Himalayan salt is better than my old Morton’s salt habit
Guess I may need to experiment and see it it whacks my blood pressure off the charts, I swear don’t know if this new normal or what but damn having dreams about Thai food LOL is crazy.
There is no good/bad dichotomy or 1D scale for food. If your diet is somehow missing these nutrients, this does fill a gap. If you are sensitive to sodium, then there are plenty of other options.
Fish sauce is made by salting anchovies (or other fish) and letting them ferment. So they all have added salt in this way, as far as I’m aware.
If you want a brand recommendation, Red Boat (40n) is my go-to, just anchovies and sea salt.
Moved to Cafe Society.
Fish sauce is an umami delivery system. You can get low-sodium umami delivery systems, like Bragg Liquid Aminos. You can also buy straight MSG from your local Asian market and use that in your cooking. MSG has much less sodium in it than table salt.
Get a good cookbook and start experimenting with your favorite dishes. You’ll find that you don’t need all that much salt to make delicious Thai food (or food of any kind), and you shouldn’t notice the reduction all that much unless your intake has been severely reduced.
Definitely get out of the habit of salting your food at the table.
This is just marketing. It is not healthier.
Yep. Salt is salt. A pink color and monks praying over it doesn’t make it healthier.
Well, some salt does taste different, particularly kala namak, “black salt” (which is actually pink in color when ground, but looks more black in its rock form.) It has a very eggy taste and smell due to its sulfur content and is, among other things, commonly found in Indian snacks as part of the chaat masala mixture where it lends its distinctive aroma and flavor.
And then you have smoked salts and stuff like that. But, for the most part, you’re correct.
According to my 5 minutes of internet research, Tiparos brand has the lowest sodium per 1 tbsp serving (690mg), compared to almost double or more in every other brand I was able to find information for.
Tiparos is a good brand, and the one I usually use for cooking (for dipping sauces I use the more expensive Red Boat.)
Thanks for all the replies, I knew I’d get better answers here than anywhere else. Been working on this for about a month now, doing meals with no or low salt and definitely not adding any either. Pretty much staying away from canned or processed food eating lots of raw vegetables and salads fish and chicken. Just was seriously jonesing for some Thai but perhaps I’d better stick completely to my diet, LOL I was more concerned dreaming about food LOL Ive dreamt about a lot of stuff but never so vividly about food LOL. But it makes sense I suppose I definitely enjoyed salt in my diet previously, I guess I’m having withdrawls of some sort. Again thanks for the replies
That is our brand as well. We use it in a lot of things that can benefit from added umami (not just Thai food).
And why does Discourse think umami is misspelled word?
I can’t really tell a difference between Red Boat, Squid, 3 Crabs, Golden Boy, etc… they ALL taste like salt and toe jam mixed with crotch. So I usually go with what’s cheapest- mostly Squid and 3 Crabs in my experience.
Then again, I mostly use mine for Thai curries and in smaller amounts in savory dishes much like you’d use MSG or soy sauce to boost umami.
I’m obviously going to have to be careful and use it sparingly along with the chili garlic sauce another addiction if I use it at all. I’ll just have to be creative …
Because Discourse is a poopy-head.