Fish Sauce Substitute
This sauce has a salty fermented flavor that seems to me to be an
improvement over using soy sauce as a direct replacement for fish
sauce in Asian recipes. It was originally submitted to
rec.food.cooking by jkandell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Jonathan
Kandell). I've rewritten the instructions to make them a bit more clear.
2 Tbsp Chinese fermented black soybeans*
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp sherry
1-2 Tbsp miso
Combine soy sauce and sherry in a small bowl. Optionally rinse off
salt from the beans. If you have a garlic press, press beans directly
into soy sauce mixture otherwise just put beans in the sauce. Let
this sit for at least 10 minutes so that beans get all soft. Mash
together and add miso. When ready to use, strain out solids. I'm not
sure if letting the mixture sit longer deepens the flavor but it
probably does.
*The fermented black soybeans can be found in and Asian market.
They are not the same as the black beans you would use in a black
bean soup. These are coated with a white salty layer and I bought
them in a bag from the nuts/spices section of the store.