Are there any good substitutes for Fish Sauce for cooking Thai food?
This is due to a severe food allergy (anaphylaxis) to all forms of seafood, so I'm unable to substitute for other fish-based products.
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Try mixing hoisin or miso into low-sodium soy sauce. From one of my favorite bloggers, Smitten Kitchen, "I often see low-sodium soy sauce suggested as an alternative but I’m not convinced it’s a fair swap. There’s something more caramelized and fermented in the fish sauce that you’d miss. If you feel like playing around, I might whisk some additional hoisin or even miso into that soy sauce for a more complex flavor." |
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If you cannot have fish at all, try using grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Fish sauce has two basic flavors: a sweeter one that is similar to Reggiano and a stronger one that is similar to cooked broccoli. If I were to experiment, I would try a mixture of the two, with maybe some of the juice made from the inside pulp of tomatoes (the gel-like thing with the seeds). |
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Your best bet is a light soy sauce, that, at least, will provide the 'saltiness' If you need a fishy flavor you could always add a little fish paste or perhaps a fillet from a tin or bottle of fish, such as anchovies. Just 'wizz' the two in a blender for a few minutes. |
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You should look into vegetarian fish sauce. If you can't find it, but can find a vegetarian (anchovy-free) Worcestershire sauce, that will provide some of the flavour, though we haven't tried it with Thai food. :-) A salty chicken bouillon might also do the trick in a pinch. |
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I've not tried it, but a combination of light soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce seems like a good bet. They both provide umami, soy sauce has the saltiness, and Worcestershire sauce is also made from fermented fish. |
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You can safely leave out the fish sauce without attempting to replace it with anything. First of all, it's really more fishy than salty, so substituting soy sauce often makes your dish too salty. Secondly, most curries or stews only call for a small amount of fish sauce and there are such wonderful things going on spice-wise in Thai cuisine that you really don't miss it. |
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You could use a smaller amount of oyster sauce if the person was only allergic to fish... (But keep in mind that some oyster sauces also include fish sauce, so check carefully!). That said, if the person is also allergic to oyster sauce (as your question states), then I'd probably subtitute it with some stock instead, perhaps a small amount of soy sauce, and add less sugar, because it will also be sweeter. |
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