You'll definitely want it for SEA cooking (not all of which requires coconut milk... not all SEA food is Thai, and not all Thai food is curry). But you can also use fish sauce for other things. It's really good in dressings and marinades. I use it to marinate chicken and pork all the time.

>>7416825
Most Thai curries require coconut milk, but curries are not all there is to That cuisine. There are many salads and stir frys. Common seasonings on the stir frys are lemongrass, shallot, ginger/galangal, garlic, hot pepper, sugar and some kind of herb (usually Thai basil or cilantro). The salads can be dressed with a mix of fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and hot pepper to start with until you find a more authentic style of dressing you prefer.

What do you have against coconut milk?

>>7416846
>What do you have against coconut milk?
I've never seen it in any stores around here, that's pretty much it. Can't cook with stuff you don't have.

>>7416860
It ought to be available in Asian stores or supermarkets with an Asian section. It comes in cans and is not expensive.

But I understand some places are tougher than others to find ingredients. I'm from Brooklyn, where you can get pretty much anything you want, and pretty cheap if you look around. I'm renting a place in NOLA right now and I'm shocked at how finding much of anything in the way of groceries, even common shit is a challenge without going to Whole Foods and paying outrageous prices. I don't know how people live here.

>>7416880
I'm from the middle of Russia, the closest I've ever seen to an Asian grocery is this exact store I've spotted the fish sauce in, a "healthy food store" which is basically a vegan shop with a bunch of asian ingredients.

>>7416883
And there's no coconut milk? Vegans love that shit, because it's one of the few creamy tasting things they can eat.

But I guess it would be a pretty exotic ingredient in Russia. You guys tend to cover the need for creamy tasting things with sour cream and mayo most of the time, right?

I bought a bottle of red boat last year, and honestly it smells like a dirty ass/snatch. I've used it a few times, but damn that can't be the right taste.

>>7416917
Dairy is really big in Russia, so yes.
And for some reason people here do, in fact, have an unhealthy infatuation with mayonnaise. I've seen cookie recipes include mayo for god's sake.

>>7416932
It's made from fermented anchovies, so it smells like death. The smell kind of blows off when it cooks, leaving behind a rich, slightly fishy flavor. When used raw in dips and dressing it's usually balanced with other pungent flavors that mask the smell to some degree.

It's one of many fermented foods that smell awful, but taste delicious. Fish sauce just happens to be a pretty extreme example.

>>7416957
>have an unhealthy infatuation with mayonnaise.
Ugh, I hear you man. Most traditional Russian salads = assorted vegetables drenched in mayo.

Here in Moscow they have some Indian grocers and even my local supermarket has an Asian section, including coconut milk. It must suck to be out in the Siberian gulags.

According to some internet chefs you put it in fucking chili and bolognese sauce

>>7416971
At least we have proper kumys in here and horse meat is a common thing.
I could probably pay one of those posh shops like "Globus Gourmet" a visit but they're obviously going to be an astronomical rip-off.

>>7416965

I wonder, is there a Russian equiavalent of fish sauce? Most cultures have some form of it. What OP posted is from southeast Asia, but there's also the western Worcestershire (made from anchovies). The Japanese have katsuobushi (not a sauce, but it's still made from aged, fermented, and moldy fish).

>>7416976
Never tried it, but I could see it adding something interesting to it. Honestly, you could probably use fish sauce in anything you were originally planning on adding worcestershire sauce to and still come up with something not gross.

>>7416982
I don't think there's anything like that here, maybe as a part of ethnic cuisine in the northernmost regions?

>>7416965
Yea, I guess I was just expecting something more fishy and less... assy? I thought maybe it had went bad, but probably not since its freshly opened.

>>7416957
I have a Bulgarian friend who makes a dish she calls "Russian salad", and it's basically beets, pickles and a few other veggies practically swimming in mayo. But honestly it's not much more extreme than the cabbage, potato and macaroni salads you'd commonly find in the rural US.

>>7416980
I am a foreign devil, so never tried kumys or horse meat... keen to one day though.

>>7416994
I like those kinds of salads, but I tend to prefer it have just enough mayo to coat the ingredients. Nothing should be "swimming." I feel the same way about coleslaw.

>>7416990

It probably wouldn't be from anywhere that's very cold. Fish sauce is made by aging (fermenting) the fish. If it's freezing cold that can't happen. So basically you would need access to fish (a coastal area), and a warm enough climate that fermentation can occur.

>>7416992
There's so much salt in to it doesn't really go bad. That's just what fermented fish smells like.

>>7417003
When I make salads I prefer to mix mayo with sour cream.

Be careful when pouring it. I once spilled a small amount of fish sauce and some of it seeped into the crack between my stove and counter before I could wipe it up. Kitchen reeked of fish sauce for a week.

>>7417003
For me anything dressed with mayo that comes prepared in a jar is better off substituting olive oil and vinegar/lemon juice with a little salt for the mayo. Homemade mayo is another matter, but supermarket mayo adds nothing but blandness to food, in my view.

>>7417007

This. That stuff lasts forever due to the salt content. Smells like ass, tastes amazing.