fish sauce
description
This is essential to Burmese cooking similar to Thai fish sauce, nam pla. The Burmese version is slightly stronger without being pungent. A good fish sauce is said to be ‘a clear, reddish brown coluor, like the coluor of good whisky or sherry, without any sediments. It has a pleasant aroma of the sea, not an overwhelming smelly fishiness, and should not be overly salty’.
substitutes
Salt for vegetarians
availability
Supermarkets, Asian stores