I haven’t tried this fish sauce.
But if people are curious about fish sauce and differences between them - Andrea Nguyen (mentioned her blog above) wrote a bit about the differences. If you search her blog she talks about high end fish sauces as well.
I just thumbed through the only Vietnamese cookbook I have and it’s pretty lackluster. I was considering adding this book by Linh Nguyen to my collection - has anyone read it or heard anything about the author? It was released earlier this year but the Amazon reviews are quite positive, and I was pleased to see a couple reviews that mentioned a focus on a less-sweet style of cooking. I often find Vietnamese restaurant dishes to be overly sweet for my palate.
Vietnamese cuisine is one of my favorite cuisines. I usually just go eat it in restaurants though. I made some pho bo in an electric pressure cooker using a recipe from Andrea Nguyen’s The Pho Cookbook, recipe also here: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017521-pressure-cooker-beef-pho
Made a few changes. I cooked it under pressure for an hour rather than 30 minutes, let the broth chill overnight to remove the layer of fat on top, and also added a piece of beef tendon that I think gave it some more body. The tendon came out tender after cooking.
I like fish sauce but growing up, have only used one kind, which is the Squid brand, made in Thailand.
I have never objected to its flavor , anchovy being a favorite, although I recently read that it is one of the brand that is least recommended. Then, reading again, I find that it is recommended with reservation by America Test Kitchen. At $2.00 for 25 oz, $1.60 when on sale ( just bought another bottle recently), a bottle last me a long time. I mostly use it for seafood soup when I do not want the soup to be too salty, but dip the seafood in squid sauce and perhaps a squeeze of lime.
However, $26.00 amazon prime for 200 ml ( 6.7 ounce), compared to $2.00 for25 ounce, It has to be darn good.
Would like to get more opinions.
I have bought several bottles of fish sauces in Hanoi in 2012 and had them shipped back home by boat. I wasn’t paying much attention in the Vietnamese supermarket, Squid brand was one of them, among the other Vietnamese brand I bought (Among them, I got some bottles of 52º). I didn’t perform a scientific taste test like the link above, but when this bottle was opened, I sensed instantly that it was inferior than the others, it was bland and more salty, and we could tell there was less fish than the other bottles I had. In fact you could find this easily in the French supermarket, it was only later that I discovered that it was Thai.
I think it depends what you are doing, for a dipping sauce, I will prefer to use a better one, but if it is for cooking with other ingredients, I can accept an relatively inferior one. A too good one will get a bit wasted.
For the broth, I usually add a lot of bones, and bone marrow if possible, that adds a “sweet” taste. I add like to add a lot of black pepper grains and pieces of ginger too. I love tendons.
Lots of herbs is a much, if I didn’t have it, I would add some barely cooked slices of leek, or soy beans, or mint if I couldn’t find the Thai Basil leaves.
Good effort! I like tendon (eating it).
I feel this might be good in a bloody mary.
thanks. This was the first article I read when I referred to Squid Brand as being one of he least recommended before I read about America’s test kitchen that recommends it with reservation.
I still have an unopened bottle of Squid Brand. Next time, I will try the red boat 40 degrees and maybe the BLiS. I very very seldom use worcestershire sauce though I have a bottle in my cupboard.
thanks for further info
i guess i do not know what I have missed.
next time i am in Va, I will look for the red boat 40 degrees .
The 1.69 unopened squid can be given away to my hispanic garden helper or just discarded although I hate to throw away anything even if it is only under $2.00.
Thanks for posting the egg pie (as we call it) recipe. That is my SO’s favourite Vietnamese dish. We are so spoiled with Vietnamese restaurants in Vancouver that we go out for it probably three times a month. One very good one is even walking distance. So I haven’t tried making this dish at home, but to answer your noodle question, you could easily use yam noodles in place of mung bean or even really skinny rice noodles (what they call vermicelli on the package). I use the mung bean ones all the time, from several Chinese companies including Longkou which I get in the 300 ml packages that have smaller bundles of noodles you can use separately. Good luck!
Oh don’t throw your Squid brand away if you like it! It is my go-to as well for Thai recipes, having gone on a fish sauce bender a couple years ago. I tried a bunch of different pricey brands and landed back with my beloved Squid and a fridge full of partially used ones! That being said, I do keep a bottle of Vietnamese fish sauce, Megachef 30N, on hand for when I make nuoc cham to put on salad rolls with nem nuoung, lettuce, cilantro, cucumber and the mung bean noodles mentioned above, all wrapped in rice paper. Such a great (and gluten free, if you care about that) summer meal. Fun for kids and grownups too as we DIY the rolls.
Thanks. I will keep it then
FYI, I ended up buying a copy of Lemongrass, Ginger and Mint Vietnamese Cookbook: Classic Vietnamese Street Food Made at Home by Linh Nguyen - it was only $6 for Kindle, so I figured why not! I have read through most of it but haven’t tried any recipes yet. However, I am enjoying the writer’s homey anecdotes, and the recipes look straightforward if not terribly exciting. I’ll be sure to report back once I cook a few!
Improvised, Vietnamese-inspired dinner tonight that turned out FABULOUS. Chicken sauteed with peanuts, garlic and ginger, then sauced with sambal oelek and a bit of soy and sweetener, served with a crunchy slaw of red cabbage, red bell peppers, radishes, scallions and a LOAD of Thai basil and Vietnamese mint from the garden. The slaw was lightly dressed with mayo, rice vinegar, Sriracha, fish sauce and lime juice - very refreshing. I’m sure it’s nothing you’d find in Vietnam, but the flavor profile is similar - and DH is currently enjoying his third plate!
I tried one summer growing Thai basil, not particularly successful, maybe the problem was the seeds, I have success with all type of basils. How about Vietnamese mint, is it easy to grow? never tried this one. I will try again lemongrass too, didn’t succeed the first time, growing from seeds.
Not sure you are far away too. Sounds delicious! 
The Thai basil I started from seed, and it has been problem-free. The Vietnamese mint I purchased as a starter plant, and it hasn’t really done much - it looks healthy, but it hasn’t grown at all. I’m wondering if the pot I have it in is too small or the soil needs to be fertilized (or the pH adjusted). I may plant it in the ground and see if that improves matters, although I worry about planting mint in the herb garden for fear it will eventually overtake everything!
ETA: The cookbook I just purchased says that Vietnamese coriander and Vietnamese mint are just two names for the same plant (Persicaria odorata), but I purchased both from Richter’s Herbs this season and they are different. However, I just checked Richter’s website, and what they sell as Vietnamese coriander is Persicaria odorata, while their Vietnamese mint is Mentha x gracilis. Mentha x gracilis is apparently more commonly known as gingermint or Scotchmint. Anyway, the Persicaria odorata has not done well at all in my garden. I moved it to a new spot recently but it doesn’t seem to be perking up. I used the gingermint in last night’s dinner and the flavor was wonderful - I’m hoping I can find it a spot or a pot that it likes!
Thanks for the clarification, I was thinking of Persicaria odorata instead of ginger mint.
I read somewhere that you need to treat them like a tropical plant, , a start that imitated the wet season followed with high nitrogen plant food.
Ah, good to know - I’ve got some high N fertilizer, perhaps I’ll give that a go. Supposedly you can overwinter them inside as well, if mine survives that long!
