Fish sauce: Nuoc Mam vs Tram Nam?

442 Views 9 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Andy1121, 2 mo ago

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Discussion Starter · 2 mo ago

I'm once again lost at the fish sauce aisle at my Asian grocer. There are so many different choices, and I never really know what to get.

This time I noticed that the bottles labeled "PHU QUOC" in big letters, and underneath that, some of the bottles would say only one of the two following:

truyen thong nuoc mam
truyen thong tram nam

Does anyone know the difference? They have the same degrees.

I ended up getting the one that says tram nam and on the side it says "Nuoc Mam Sieu Hang". Ingredients are "Anchovy extract, salt" and it's a 35°N sauce.

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butzy

· #2 · 2 mo ago

All I know is that the fish sauce made on phu quoc is very highly rated.
Been there, tasted it and absolutely adored it (the island and the fish sauce)

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Discussion Starter · #3 · 2 mo ago

Thank you @butzy for sharing your experience! How nice it must have been to get to go on that island!

For me it will remain just a name on a fish sauce bottle I'm afraid. Still, good to hear that it's an indicator of quality fish sauce. I haven't opened it yet, I'm finishing a bottle of "3 crabs" which I'm not super fond of, but it does the trick.

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chrislehrer

· #4 · 2 mo ago

My sister-in-law gave me a bottle of Spanish reconstructed Roman garam as a Christmas present. Lovely stuff: a very mild, subtle "fish sauce" flavor that mostly gives a huge umami/salt hit without anything else very specific. But I suspect it wasn't cheap.

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butzy

· #5 · 2 mo ago

I really like fish sauce.
It just gives such a depth to dishes.
Only brands I've seen here are Squid and Thai Table. I just buy whenever I see some. You never know when it is going to run out!

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Discussion Starter · #6 · 2 mo ago

butzy said:
It just gives such a depth to dishes.

Totally, it really adds complexity. A couple of days ago I made chili con carne and a dash of dark soy sauce and a dash of fish sauce really helped adding some depth like you're saying. Even though both additions seem completely out of place in that kind of cuisine, a subtle amount goes undetected but still really brings something to the plate. I loved it.

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brianshaw

· #7 · 2 mo ago

In small amounts using fish sauce isn’t much different from using Worcestershire sauce to add umami. But it’s a lot easier to spell and pronounce!

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Discussion Starter · #8 · 2 mo ago

brianshaw said:
But it’s a lot easier to spell and pronounce!

We've resolved that problem here in France where we call Worcestershire sauce simply "English sauce". 😆

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chrislehrer

· #9 · 2 mo ago

In Japan a very close relative to Worcestershire is the sauce put on tonkatsu and some similar dishes. It's generally referred to by the name of the most popular brand: Bulldog Sauce. Easy to spell and pronounce, even in Japanese.

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Andy1121

· #10 · 2 mo ago

I don't have any expertise in fish sauce, but I love it and I've tried different brands. My favorite is Red Boat.

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