Vegetarian alternative to fish sauce

[taxlady]

Well. If I ever considered eating fish sauce, I definitely don't anymore. Stink factor? Ewwww lol

My "Squid Brand Fish Sauce (contains no squid)" has an aroma, but I wouldn't say it had a stink factor.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Well. If I ever considered eating fish sauce, I definitely don't anymore. Stink factor? Ewwww lol

DW; remember, stink doesn't always mean "bad" in the cullinary vocabulary. Many cheeses fall into the category, stinky cheese, and yet are loved by people all over the world. The same is true of so many things we eat. Onions and garlic are both considered stinky. And yet, when used properly, they add wonderful flavor to the dishes made with them.

I have had and used Poisson sauce (French fish sauce, don't know if I spelled it right). When the bottle was opened, I thought it was one of the more rank odors I'd smelled. When used in the recipe for which it was intended, it was great. I tried it in something else, and added a little to much, and it was terrible.

So, when someone refers to the stink factor of a food, or seasoning, be aware that they may be referring to something that had great potential, when used correctly.

And I know you were being light-hearted in your comments. But I just wanted you to know.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[TooTall]

Hey


Thanks Chief! I didn't explain that too well, as in all Asian food, SE Asian is all about balance. The stink factor is important, coming from dried shrimp, shrimp paste, fish sauce, stocks etc but that's balanced out by the floral fragrant flavours like lemongrass and kaffir lime. One without the other tastes hollow, as much as I love the stink it needs those perfume-like notes to counter act. Yellow beans and Kim-Chi serve a similair purpose in Korean cooking, fermented black beans in Chinese... Etc. All still needs balance tho! Much like serving fresh apple or quince paste with your blue cheese!

 

[desertwillow]

DW; remember, stink doesn't always mean "bad" in the cullinary vocabulary. Many cheeses fall into the category, stinky cheese, and yet are loved by people all over the world. The same is true of so many things we eat. Onions and garlic are both considered stinky. And yet, when used properly, they add wonderful flavor to the dishes made with them.

I have had and used Poisson sauce (French fish sauce, don't know if I spelled it right). When the bottle was opened, I thought it was one of the more rank odors I'd smelled. When used in the recipe for which it was intended, it was great. I tried it in something else, and added a little to much, and it was terrible.

So, when someone refers to the stink factor of a food, or seasoning, be aware that they may be referring to something that had great potential, when used correctly.

And I know you were being light-hearted in your comments. But I just wanted you to know.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

Stinky cheese isn't something I eat or buy. I'm very sensitive to smells. I can't use commercial cleaning products, for example (like Clorox spray or Kaboom... Simple Green use to not bother me but now it does).

You should see me cutting up onions! I am constantly turning away or walking away because my eyes and nose are under assault. It's like pepper spray for me. I love the darn things, but cooking with them is painful for me. I'll just have tears pouring out of my eyes and I'll havr to walk away and shut them from the burning. I still cook with them though. I love onions.

Course, I'll take "painful" over "nauseated" which is how "stinky" foods make me feel. Even fresh garlic can be stomach turning sometimes. Horseradish? No way. My boyfriend is banned from eating it when I'm around. Strongly scented leafs like seaweed? Nope, no way!

I live fish/seafood like crabs too but have a hard time with the smell.

I would have my (now ex) husband smell the bag of shredded cheese to make sure it still smelled ok, cause it just always smelled spoiled to me, so I wouldn't use it. I've had to get over that and actually taste the cheese now. I eat less cheese these days lol.

Pitfalls of quitting smoking: You realize how smelly the world is!

 

[CWS4322]

Bump!

We kinda dropped this thread...

I want to make some kimchi that my vegetarian and vegan friends can eat (planning a do either over Boxing Day weekend or New Year's Day). Of course I use fish sauce. I was looking at this recipe tonight and was thinking I could also add some Dulse. Any thoughts?


Recipe: Vegan Fish Sauce | The Kitchn


What "colour" of miso--brown, white, or red?


Where are our vegetarian/vegan DCers when we need them! Larry--where are you!

 

[powerplantop]

Bump!

We kinda dropped this thread...

I want to make some kimchi that my vegetarian and vegan friends can eat (planning a do either over Boxing Day weekend or New Year's Day). Of course I use fish sauce. I was looking at this recipe tonight and was thinking I could also add some Dulse. Any thoughts?


Recipe: Vegan Fish Sauce | The Kitchn


What "colour" of miso--brown, white, or red?


Where are our vegetarian/vegan DCers when we need them! Larry--where are you!

If I was making that recipe I would go with brown.

But my English language source for Korean food had this posted awhile back. It got good reviews. Topic: vegetarian fish sauce for kimchi - Maangchi.com

 

[larry_stewart]

Where are our vegetarian/vegan DCers when we need them! Larry--where are you!

Actually Im in Boston, at the moment. Just saw Cat Stevens ( Yusuf Islam) in concert and Bob Seger ( and The J Geils Band at Mohegan Sun on Saturday).

But anyway , unfortunately, even when I did eat meat, I never ever tried seafood, so I have absolutely no idea what Fish Sauce tastes like. I did try to make it once from some recipe ( cause I was making a recipe that called for it ) I remember the recipe calling for seaweed and something mushroom related, so it probably was similar to the link that was posted. But , Im not sure how close it actually tastes to fish sauce.

Sorry for not being too helpful

 

[larry_stewart]

Thai Vegetarian Food Adaptations

Check out this link, it has some vegetarian substitutions for Fish sauce, oyster sauce and shrimp paste. One of the suggestions includes fermented tofu. Just as a word of warning. I have tried fermented tofu and its kinda rough. In some bizarre way, I actually liked it, but it really smells and tastes like rot.

How to Make a Vegetarian Alternative to Fish Sauce

but adds the 'Umami' aspect of fish sauce to the recipe.

Also

 

[Dawgluver]

Well, Larry, I'm totally jealous! (Not about your fish sauce knowlege, about seeing such great musicians!)

 

[larry_stewart]

Well, Larry, I'm totally jealous! (Not about your fish sauce knowlege, about seeing such great musicians!)

Some people buy fancy cars, other fancy houses, some go out and spend hundreds of dollars on gourmet dinners and wine, Me, I spoil myself going to concerts. If you told me 30 years ago, that in one year( 2014) I would have seen the people that I saw this year live in concert, I would have thought you were crazy

Unfortunately though, as you said, my fish sauce knowledge is a bust..

 

[CWS4322]

Actually Im in Boston, at the moment. Just saw Cat Stevens ( Yusuf Islam) in concert and Bob Seger ( and The J Geils Band at Mohegan Sun on Saturday).

But anyway , unfortunately, even when I did eat meat, I never ever tried seafood, so I have absolutely no idea what Fish Sauce tastes like. I did try to make it once from some recipe ( cause I was making a recipe that called for it ) I remember the recipe calling for seaweed and something mushroom related, so it probably was similar to the link that was posted. But , Im not sure how close it actually tastes to fish sauce.

Sorry for not being too helpful

When I was an exchange student in Germany, I say Cat Stevens in Bremen........loved him!

 

[jennyema]

Actually Im in Boston, at the moment. Just saw Cat Stevens ( Yusuf Islam) in concert and Bob Seger ( and The J Geils Band at Mohegan Sun on Saturday:

Cat Stevens, you say ....

I ONLY TRIED TO GET TICKETS 10 SECONDS AFTER THEY WENT ONLINE AND ENDLESSLY AFTER THAT AND WAS SHUT OUT!!!

Sorry for yelling but that bummed me out. Hope he was good!

I was Seth Justman's (Geils keyboard) kids babysitter back in the day ....

 

[larry_stewart]

Cat Stevens, you say ....

I ONLY TRIED TO GET TICKETS 10 SECONDS AFTER THEY WENT ONLINE AND ENDLESSLY AFTER THAT AND WAS SHUT OUT!!!

I preordered his new CD just so I could get access to the advanced ticket sales for the New york show. BUT, AND I AM YELLING NOW, WHEN HE GOT WORD THAT HIS TICKETS WERE BEING BOUGHT AND SOLD FOR CRAZY PRICES, HE CANCELLED THE NEW YORK SHOW, AND ADDED ANOTHER CITY WHICH DOESNT HAVE HARD COPY TICKETS ( WHICH NEW YORK REQUIRES) THEREFORE , MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO SCALP AND RAISE PRICES.

So, this meant that I had to find another city that he was playing in close to my house ( Philly was closest, but Boston was on a weekend , so more practical for me). had to attempt to get tickets online, which I was lucky enough to get, even though they were crappy seats. in addition (AND IM YELLING AGAIN) I HAD TO PAY $100+ FOR ROUND TRIP FERRY, GAS $$$, $300 HOTEL ROOM, 2 SOLID DAYS OUT OF MY LIFE, ALONG WITH OTHER TRAVEL EXPENSES. I would have preferred to pay a few extra bucks on the tickets, selected exactly where I wanted to sit, and have a day back in my life.

That being said, we made the best out of it, a mini vacation, and had fun.

Oh, and when i went to his facebook page after the show, someone posted that they got the tickets on ticketmaster about 2 hours before the show. Cat stevens team replied, that for each show, right before the show they release a bunch of promotional tickets . Im sure that person got better seats than I did

 

[jennyema]

Larry

I preordered, too, and was online to buy tickets right at 12 noon and on my maybe 20th try was offered 2 crappy orch seats and thought I could get better ones or at least move back to the balcony if I kept trying. TO NO AVAIL!! Tried again all day the following few days and at least once or twice a day for a month.

Found them online at Ace Tix for $1000+ each!!!!

So I got us tickets to see Feherty the golf guy at the venue right next to Cat Stevens. Then 2 days before that show he cancelled.

So we made spaghetti and meatballs and watched the Patriots game. It would never have occurred to me to check for tix right before the show.

Where did you stay? Did you eat anything interesting?

 

[larry_stewart]

Stayed across the street from the venue at the Courtyard Downtown Boston. Was actually very nice and extremely convenient. Saturday went to Mohegan Sun to see Bob Seger, at at Ballo which is in the casino. Had a Gorgonzola Bruschetta, Walnut and Goat cheese polenta, Eggplant parm with side of spaghetti, and an arugula salad with lemon juice, toasted pine nuts and parmesan shavings. ( had the left overs for breakfast the next day)

In Boston, we went to a Vegetarian/ Vegan Thai restaurant that we normally go to when Im in town every January. The place is kind of a hole in the wall type of place, but one of the few where I can eat anything on the menu.

My Thai Vegan Cafe ( on Beach street at the corner of Beach and Washington)

Roll Sod: Fresh spring rolls. soft rice paper filled with veggie-chicken, tofu, lettuce, vermicelli, basil leaves, carrots, bean sprouts, and cucumber. peanut sauce is served on the side.

Yellow Noodles: Stir-fried yellow noodles with broccoli, snow peas, carrots, napa, straw mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and baby corn in a tasty brown sauce with veggie-chicken and veggie-beef and tofu and gluten.

and a piece of chocolate cake for dessert.

We also saw Shear madness Sunday afternoon, to kill time before the Cat Stevens concert, and it was actually a lot of fun. A murder / mystery comedy/ audience participation.

Everything was 3 blocks or less from where we stayed, and it was very cold so not too much walking.

Will be back in Boston late January. Will be staying near the convention center, I think at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront. Will likely eat at Salvatore's one night cause of its convenience and because we've eaten there before. The weather and my schedule that week will have a lot to do with where else we might eat, but Im up to suggestions ( as long as there is more that 1 thing for me to eat on the menu)