Disputed History of Fish Sauce & A Surprising Twist 魚露

Umami, savoury, salty, amber tea colour fish sauce is used in the whole of Indochina and south coast of China as an ingredient, flavouring, seasoning, marinate and a dip. The versatile sauce is most popular, even essential in the dishes of Indochina and south China.

Fish sauce is known by various names in different countries.

In Guangdong and Fujian province of China, fish sauce is known as 魚露 or herr law in Teochew and Hokkien language.

In Cambodia, fish sauce is called tik trei / tœ̆k trei ទឹកត្រី.

In Laos (Isaan), it is called nam pa ນ້ໍາປາ.

Fish sauce in Myanmar is called ngan bya yay ငါးငံပြာရည်.

Fish sauce from Vietnam is called nước mắm or just mắm.

Fish sauce in Thailand is called nam pla น้ำปลา.

In the Philippines, fish sauce is known as patis.

Basics of Fish Sauce Production

A fish sauce factory in Vietnam

In its most basic form, fish sauce is made with just two ingredients - fish and salt.

Fresh fish (usually anchovies) and salt are tightly packed into huge jars or barrels and weighted down (often with stones or heavy blocks of wood). The fermentation process takes nine months to two years, with the jars or barrels traditionally baking in the sun. Liquid from the fermented fish is harvested when it reached the required concentration (for the coveted umami savoury flavour and aroma). The fish sauce is filtered to produce the amber tea colour liquid before bottling.

Of course, there are many variations in fish sauce production process from country to country, producer to producer.

Asian Fish Sauce

Lacquer painting from Chu (704 - 223 BC), a Zhou vassal state

Sauce made with fish, soy bean and salt was recorded 3,000 years ago during the Zhou dynasty (1046 BC - 256 BC) based in central China's Yellow River and Yangtze River basins. During the time of the Han dynasty (202 BC - 9 AD, 25 - 220 AD), sauce made with soy bean and salt sans fish appeared.

Gradually, soy sauce became the dominant condiment / flavouring in China displacing fish sauce in most of the country except in the southern Chinese provinces of Guangdong (especially in Chaoshan region) and Fujian. Further south, fish sauce remains popular in mainland Southeast Asia (in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand) to this day.

(There's another theory that fish sauce completely disappeared from China and was re-introduced by Teochew and Hokkien traders who brought it back from Southeast Asia in the 15th century.)

Food historians drew a bean - fish divide separating soy sauce countries China, Japan and Korea from fish sauce countries Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines. In southern China, Guangdong and Fujian province are on the Southeast Asian side of the bean - fish divide.

Mediterranean Fish Sauce

Fish sauce also existed in the Mediterranean during ancient Greek and Roman times as far back as 400 BC (2,500 years ago) - the Greeks called it gàros while the Romans called it garum. Fish sauce is mentioned in the Roman cookbook, De Re Coquinaria, the oldest known recipe book in existence (going back to the 5th century AD).

Fish sauce vanished from most pantries in the Mediterranean following the fall of the Roman empire in 476 AD. Heavy salt taxes drove up the cost of production of fish sauce and only a handful of producers remained.

Some historians speculate that fish sauce was introduced to East Asia by the Romans via the Silk Road which began around 100 BC. Laura Kelley, author of The Silk Road Gourmet suggested that Roman fish sauce travelled from the Mediterranean to China via the Silk Road.

In 2010, researchers analysed samples of garum taken from containers preserved at Pompeii and found that Roman fish sauce from the 1st century AD tastes similar to fish sauce produced in Southeast Asia today.

Others believe that Asian communities independently invented their own fish sauce varieties. Mark Kurlansky, in his book Salt: A World History, theorised that fish sauce developed independently in the East and West.

Fish Sauce Becomes Ketchup

When Europeans came to Asia, they encountered a fish sauce known as kôechiap (in Hokkien Chinese) in the 1700s. They brought this back to England and from it derived Worcestershire sauce which is made with anchovies, salt (and other ingredients like tamarind, garlic, etc).

In England, they also experimented with other ingredients such as mushroom, walnut, etc. When fish sauce was brought to North America, they replicated it with tomatoes which eventually led to ketchup.

The evolution from kôechiap (fish sauce) to ketchup (tomato sauce) is described in more detail here 👈 click

Written by Tony Boey on 19 Jun 2023