Comment by skrtskrt
17 hours ago
I think in many dishes you can add quite a lot, but it blends and cooks in with other ingredients so that the "fish sauce flavor" does not jump out as such.
I make mapo tofu with 1 tsp each of fish sauce, oyster sauce and light soy sauce. I don't think anyone would think it tastes like fish or oyster sauce in any way, but it doesn't taste right at all without them. The same goes for many other dishes.
I need to try this. Typically I make my mapo tofu with dry-fried mushrooms and mushroom stock (I've found this much tastier than a pork or beef-based mapo tofu), but I don't always have the mushroom preparation on hand and punching up a pork mapo tofu with fish sauce would be much more convenient.
What kind of fish sauce do you use?
Red Boat fish sauce, Lee Kum Kee Oyster Sauce, and Pearl River Bridge light soy sauce - all standard stuff. I use just a little ground pork for that flavor, and I’ve found a little chicken stock and dash of white pepper really help as well