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Ingredients
Index
Bonito Flake
Fish Sauce
Fish Sauce
Mackerel Flake
Maldive Fish
Shrimp Paste
Allec
Bagoong
Alamang
Bagoong
Monamon
Bagoong Terong
Blachan
Cincalok
Colatura di Alici
Garos
Garum
Gkapbi
Hay koh
Hiki-kandu mas
Hom ha
Kapi
Liquamen
Muria
Mam ruoc
Mam tom
Meligarum
Nam pla
Ngan byar yay
Nuoc mam
Oxygarum
Patis
Petis Udang
Pla Daek
Pla Som
Prahoc
Sababushi
Shottsuru
Terasi
Tinapang Durog
Worcestershire
Yu lu
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Bonito Flake / Shaved Bonito
[katsuobushi (Japan)]
Bonito Flakes are extremely important in Japanese cuisine and are also
used in Korea. They are used both to make soup stock and sprinkled on dishes
as a condiment. Bonito fillets are smoked, fermented
and dried to the hardness of a board, then shaved extremely thin. This is
quite similar to the process of making
Maldive Fish except for the final shaving. Similar flakes
(sababushi) are made from mackerel.
Fish Sauce - [Nam Pla,
Nuoc Mam, Patis, Garum . . . ]
Fish sauce is essential to
several cuisines, particularly those of Vietnam and Thailand today and of
the Roman Empire. Fish sauce is made by packing small fish or fish blood and
innards or a combination of both into large barrels or jars layered with
salt and setting the barrels out in the hot sun for around a year. The fish
is digested by its own digestive enzymes and a clear salty liquid is eventually
drained off and bottled. The paste left in the bottom of the barrels is also
bottled and sold as a different kind of fish sauce.
In view of the number of these fish sauces and their importance to the
cuisines of Southeast Asia I have written a separate
Fish Sauce Page covering them
in depth.
Subst: there is no true substitute for fish sauce. If you have none
or are a strict vegetarian a fermented yellow bean sauce is about as close as
you can get. Lacking both you must resort to just salt.
Mackerel Flakes / Shaved Mackerel -
[Sababushi (Japan)]
This is similar to Bonito Flakes but made from
mackerel instead. Since bonito are members of the Mackerel/Tuna family the
difference is not great.
Maldive Fish - [Hiki-kandu mas]
Producing this dried fish product, made from fresh bonito, is the major
industry of the Maldive Islands southwest of Sri Lanka (Ceylon). It is as
essential to the cuisine of Sri Lanka as fish sauce is in Thailand. Bonito
fillets are boiled, smoked and sun dried until hard as a board. They will
then keep indefinitely stored in a dry place.
Traditionally this fish was sold by the piece. For use it was pounded in
a large mortar until broken into tiny slivers. Today it is more often sold
chipped or pre-pounded in plastic bags. The photo shows chips as I purchased
them on the left and after pounding in my large stome mortar on the right.
Subst: Japanese bonito flakes are made by a similar process but
shaved rather than splintered. They are much less dense so use a larger
measure -or- Philippine Tinapang Durog, a very similar pounded product made
out of round scad can be substituted in the measure the recipe calls for.
Shrimp Paste - [Gkabpi / Kapi
(Thai),
Terasi (Indonesia), Blachan / Petis Udang (Malay), Mam tom / Mam ruoc
(Vietnam), Bagoong alamang (Philippine), Hom ha / Hay koh (China)]
Shrimp paste is very important to sauces and dishes throughout Southeast
Asia and Southern China. Basically it's shrimp, usually very tiny shrimp,
salted, fermented, and dried until it breaks down into a paste which may
be bottled or pressed into cakes.
Much has been made of the overpowering smell and strong salty taste, but
I haven't noticed these to be a problem, at least in high quality bottled
products. Now the pressed block products are another matter, you're going
to want to seal up tight by some means. I use two layers of shrinkwrap but
a jar would do.
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China - Hom ha / Hay koh is used in southern coastal China for
stir fries, with vegetables (particularly Ong Choy) and pork, but not
a lot elsewhere in China. It is ground smooth, darker, more pungent, less
shrimpy and saltier than most shrimp sauces but not so dark and salty as
the Malaysian. The photo sample is Koon Chun brand, made in Hong Kong and
widely available in Southern California.
Indonesia Terasi is made similar to Belacan but varies in
composition depending on area of manufacture. Color ranges from reddish-purple
to dark brown and it may be made of a mixture of shrimp, fish and vegetables.
It is pressed into blocks, and as with Belacan it is roasted before use -
wrapping in foil and holding over a burner flame until aromatic works well.
This product can be kept at room temperature for many months if
tightly wrapped and kept dry. You'll want it tightly wrapped in any case to
confine the distinctive odor.
Korea - Saeujeot
An important ingredient in Korean cuisine, these shrimp are whole and very
salty but only mildly fermented so they have very much less flavor
(and aroma) than the similar looking Malaysian Cincalok. Saeujeot is used
as a general condiment and seasoning, sometimes in place of plain salt, and
particularly in kimchi.
Malaysia - Cincalok
This pinkish paste of whole tiny shrimp, salt and rice flour
(say chin-cha-lo) is popular in Malayssia as a dipping sauce mixed with
lime juice and shallots (Sambal
Cincalok). It is also used in marinades for pork, as an ingredient in
omelets and in steamed vegetable recipes. A requried ingredient for
Nonya cooking in Singapore, it's sold in glass bottles. It has a notably
pungent aroma and taste, considered an acquired taste even by some
Malaysians.
Malaysia - Petis Udang is a black shrimp paste with the
consistency of molasses and made from fermented shrimp, salt, sugar and
flour, similar to Chinese shrimp sauce. It is served as a condiment and
added to soups.
Malaysia - Blachan
Blachan is tiny shrimp mashed and fermented for a couple
of months. It is then fried and pressed into cakes. When used, it is first
roasted - wrapping in foil and holding over a burner flame until aromatic
works well. This product can be kept at room temperature for many months if
tightly wrapped and kept dry. You'll want it tightly wrapped in any case to
confine the distinctive odor.
Philippines - Bagoong Alamang
Also spelled Bagoong Aramang, this is tiny shrimp or krill salted, fermented
dried and crushed into a paste. The pink version is as fermented, but the
color may vary because it is enhanced with Red Dye #3. The brown version,
Bagoong Alamang Guisado, is the pink fried in oil with vinegar, salt sugar
garlic and onions. Bagoong Guisado is made in regular, sweet and spicy
versions. All versions are used as table condiment.
Thailand - Gkabpi / Kapi
Gkabpi, also spelled Kapi, is still made in fishing villages
and collected by agents for packing companies. Basically it's just whole
tiny shrimp salted and dried (larger shrimp will be fermented before drying).
The packing company may add other ingredients, typically: soybean oil, garlic,
salt, pepper, paprika oleoresin. It is often roasted before use - wrapping in
foil and holding over a burner flame until aromatic works well.
Buying: Pantainorasingh and Tra Chang are quality brands widely
available in the US. Pantainorasingh is the brand I usually have on hand.
The small 3.2 ounce jar is adequate for most of us. While properly made
gkabpi may last for weeks at room temperature it's best to refrigerate it
once opened where it will keep indefinitely.
Vietnam - Mam tom / Mam ruoc
This sauce is made similarly to Thai Gkabpi but the process is a bit
more complex and it ends up much darker and a more purple color. It's
generally ground smooth and packed in jars or small tubs. Mam tom is the
name in North Vietnam, Mam ruoc in Central and South Vietnam. The photo
sample is made by Cong Ty Hai Minh.
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Tinapang Durog - []
This dried, smoked, fermented and pounded fish product is similar to
Maldive Fish but made in the Philippines from round scad
instead of Bonito. The samples I purchased were not completely dried and were
sold from a refrigerated case in small plastic bags. While it could be dried
more completely for room temperature storage it's not a big deal to keep it
in the freezer compartment.
Subst: Japanese bonito flakes are made by a similar process but
shaved rather than splintered. They are much less dense so use a larger
measure -or- Maldive Fish can be substituted in the
same measure called for in the recipe.
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