Thai Food Question

You're most likely smelling fish sauce, a very common ingredient in
Thai food. As a matter of fact, every Thai dish I've ever cooked
includes it. It's made of fermented anchovies and salt and I can't
stand the smell of it on its own, but it shouldn't be overpowering in
good Thai food. Its Thai name is nam pla.

Al Fresco said:

There is an ingredient in some Thai foods that really reeks. It

smells,

Quoted message said:

sorry to say it, like rancid urine. Some soups have it.

Does anyone have any idea what this ingredient is?

I'm planning a trip to Thailand, and I would like to avoid ordering
dishes with this stuff in them.

Quoted message said:

You're most likely smelling fish sauce, a very common ingredient in
Thai food. As a matter of fact, every Thai dish I've ever cooked
includes it. It's made of fermented anchovies and salt and I can't
stand the smell of it on its own, but it shouldn't be overpowering in
good Thai food. Its Thai name is nam pla.

Naam pla. When I lived in Bangkok we would smell this from the servants
quarters out back (they had a private kitchen, bath, bedroom separate from
the house). They would cook the same types of food we encountered from the
street vendors and in the small shops. Mom said one day, "What the H*** is
that smell?" "Alum is cooking fish out back with naam pla."

I have a bottle of it around here someplace... not of that vintage (1970) of
course 🙂 Also love Thai chili-garlic sauce but it doesn't have that
pungent scent.

Jill

Quoted message said:

Al Fresco said:

There is an ingredient in some Thai foods that really reeks. It
smells, sorry to say it, like rancid urine. Some soups have it.

Does anyone have any idea what this ingredient is?

I'm planning a trip to Thailand, and I would like to avoid ordering
dishes with this stuff in them.

Al Fresco said:

There is an ingredient in some Thai foods that really reeks. It smells,
sorry to say it, like rancid urine. Some soups have it.

Does anyone have any idea what this ingredient is?

I'm planning a trip to Thailand, and I would like to avoid ordering
dishes with this stuff in them.

Fish sauce:

http://www.panix.com/~clay/cookbook/bin/show_ingredient.cgi?fish-sauce

As another poster replied, fish sauce is a basic ingredient in almost every
Thai recipe. Fortunately, the taste blends with the other ingredients and
isn't anywhere near perceptable as a whiff straight from the bottle.

Heh. If you think the smell of fish sauce reeks, wait until you smell
crocks from fermented fish and shrimp in the markets, or the variety of
fermented fish pastes in the grocery store. 🙂

--
Clay Irving <[email hidden]>
I don't believe in psychology. I believe in good moves.
- Bobby Fischer

If you can learn to say it in fluent Thai, you CAN ask for each dish to
be prepared without fish sauce (naam pla). Or stick to strict
vegetarian places. But it's generally put in every dish.

You'll smell it anyway, because every stall along the street uses it.
You'll get used to it, and start to crave it in time. Then you won't be
able to eat without adding gobs of it to your dish.
Ahhhh, how I miss the smells of Thailand!

cjra said:

You'll smell it anyway, because every stall along the street uses it.
You'll get used to it, and start to crave it in time. Then you won't
be able to eat without adding gobs of it to your dish.
Ahhhh, how I miss the smells of Thailand!

You too??! Me too! 🙂

Jill

Quoted message said:

From: Al Fresco

Quoted message said:

There is an ingredient in some Thai foods that really reeks. It smells,
sorry to say it, like rancid urine. Some soups have it.

Does anyone have any idea what this ingredient is?

I'm planning a trip to Thailand, and I would like to avoid ordering
dishes with this stuff in them.

Might be fish sauce - Nuoc Mon I think is one spelling of it but fish sauce
isn't that common in the Thai dishes I have eaten/cooked. Could be any number
of unusual ingredients. Some of the dried veggies they use in Asian cooking
smell pretty nasty at first.

Hope you find what you're looking for so you can lose it!

*smiles*

Barb Anne

Always. In Feb it will have been one year since I was last there (I
used to live there), and it's driving me crazy.
I smell naam pla for comfort.

Isn't Fish Sauce more common in Vietnamese foods? I know it is used in a few
Thai dishes that I have encountered here in the states but there are some
dishes that don't use it. Maybe I just lean towards those dishes or have
adulterated recipes *laughs*. I'm sure the food people eat in Thailand is very
different from what most Americans can access.

Barb Anne

Barbtail said:

Isn't Fish Sauce more common in Vietnamese foods? I know it is used in a few
Thai dishes that I have encountered here in the states but there are some
dishes that don't use it. Maybe I just lean towards those dishes or have
adulterated recipes *laughs*. I'm sure the food people eat in Thailand is very
different from what most Americans can access.

It is used in a lot of Thai dishes too. I bought some a few years ago to make Pad
Thai. I got it at a local Oriental grocery store. I asked the owner if it needed
to be kept in the fridge after it was opened. The owner said" No way. That stuff is
already rotten" :-)

Oh, I assure you, naam pla is a staple in Thai food. There are a few
dishes that don't have it, but you won't find a Thai cook without it,
unless they're vegetarian.

And yes, what you eat in Thailand is worlds different than what you'll
find even in the most 'authentic' Thai restaurants in the US. Sigh.

Someone told me once I'd lived in Thailand, I'd never be able to eat
Thai food elsewhere again.

He was right. *sigh*

I've no idea how common it is in Vietnamese food though, the only
Vietnamese food I've had has been in Thailand!

Barbtail said:

Isn't Fish Sauce more common in Vietnamese foods? I know it is used in a few
Thai dishes that I have encountered here in the states but there are some
dishes that don't use it. Maybe I just lean towards those dishes or have
adulterated recipes *laughs*. I'm sure the food people eat in Thailand is very
different from what most Americans can access.

Fish sauce or some version of fermented fish or shrimp very prevalent in
Thai cuisine. 60% of the Thai recipes I have use fish sauce compared to
49% of the Vietnamese recipes I have.

--
Clay Irving <[email hidden]>
If you rush a Miracle Man, you get rotten Miracles.
- Miracle Max, The Princess Bride

cjra said:

Always. In Feb it will have been one year since I was last there (I
used to live there), and it's driving me crazy.
I smell naam pla for comfort.

I haven't been there since 1970. I still remember vividly the scents from
the vendors and the fun at the open markets. And I was just a kid!

Jill

jmcquown said:

I haven't been there since 1970. I still remember vividly the scents from
the vendors and the fun at the open markets. And I was just a kid!

I haven't been there since last week. 🙂

Some pictures of the market in Uthumphon Phisai (near Sisaket):

http://www.panix.com/~clay/photo/Thailand/IMGP0600.jpg

http://www.panix.com/~clay/photo/Thailand/IMGP0665.jpg

And a slightly out-of-focus picture of fermented fish -- It will open
your eyes when you smell it early in the morning!

http://www.panix.com/~clay/photo/Thailand/IMGP0658.jpg

--
Clay Irving <[email hidden]>
Among animals, it's eat or be eaten. Among people it's define or be
defined.

cjra said:

Oh, I assure you, naam pla is a staple in Thai food. There are a few

[snip]

Would you ...and you too, Barbtail.... please be so kind as to include
attributes and quoted text in your replies. For one reason or another, not
everyone downloads thousands of previously read headers with full thread
tree to see who is replying to who, so leaving out attributes and quoted text
makes it very difficult to follow a conversation. It is considered good net
etiquette (netiquette) and makes long threads much easier to follow. Here's
a further explanation. See item 8:

http://linux.sgms-centre.com/misc/netiquette.php

I notice you are using a Mac. It may be your newsreader is not currently
configured to include quoted text. If so, please take a look at that, as
almost all newsreaders have an option to include quoted text. Thank
you.

nb

notbob said:

cjra said:

Oh, I assure you, naam pla is a staple in Thai food. There are a

few

Quoted message said:

[snip]

Would you ...and you too, Barbtail.... please be so kind as to

include

Quoted message said:

attributes and quoted text in your replies. For one reason or

another,

Sorry! POsting from google and I've just discovered how to do it on the
new system, and it requires about 3 extra steps, so I've still not
gotten into the habit.

Sorry about that, I do know it's kind of frustrating. Will try to
remember.

Quoted message said:

I notice you are using a Mac. It may be your newsreader is not

currently

Quoted message said:

configured to include quoted text.

No, it's a PC, but it's the problem of google. In their old system, it
was much easier.

Clay Irving said:

jmcquown said:

I haven't been there since 1970. I still remember vividly the

scents from

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the vendors and the fun at the open markets. And I was just a kid!

I haven't been there since last week. 🙂

pbthhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

I lived there from 2001-2003. But no planned trips in the near future.

Quoted message said:

Some pictures of the market in Uthumphon Phisai (near Sisaket):

http://www.panix.com/~clay/photo/Thailand/IMGP0600.jpg

http://www.panix.com/~clay/photo/Thailand/IMGP0665.jpg

And a slightly out-of-focus picture of fermented fish -- It will open
your eyes when you smell it early in the morning!

http://www.panix.com/~clay/photo/Thailand/IMGP0658.jpg

You know, you actually brought tears to my eyes. Seriously. I'm having
a hard time right now, because I feel like I'm away from home,
especially after the tsunami hit.
How long were you there? Were you down south at all?

cjra said:

You know, you actually brought tears to my eyes. Seriously. I'm having
a hard time right now, because I feel like I'm away from home,
especially after the tsunami hit.
How long were you there? Were you down south at all?

I was there for 2.5 weeks -- In Sisaket provence for a week, then Pattaya
and Bangkok for the remainder of the trip. Fortunately, I missed the
tsunami, but the 9 hour drive to a small town near Uthumphon Phisai
was an adventure!

--
Clay Irving <[email hidden]>
Among animals, it's eat or be eaten. Among people it's define or be
defined.

Clay Irving said:

I haven't been there since last week. 🙂

Some pictures of the market in Uthumphon Phisai (near Sisaket):

http://www.panix.com/~clay/photo/Thailand/IMGP0600.jpg

http://www.panix.com/~clay/photo/Thailand/IMGP0665.jpg

And a slightly out-of-focus picture of fermented fish -- It will open
your eyes when you smell it early in the morning!

http://www.panix.com/~clay/photo/Thailand/IMGP0658.jpg

Great pictures, Clay! 🙂 The markets look very similar to what
we see on a trip to Malaysia in 2003. I was born there, and the sight
(and smell) of a real open-air market is a wonderful thing. I imagine
a Thai market is even more pungent, since they frequently use fish
sauce in cooking. Hopefully, we'll make it to Thailand some day, too.

Here's a few of the market pictures we took in Malaysia:

http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAMWrly4aOWjIbA

Ariane

Clay Irving said:

And a slightly out-of-focus picture of fermented fish -- It will open
your eyes when you smell it early in the morning!

I am sure that I smelled it just looking at the picture :-)