The holiday is over and the new year is beginning. It seems a good time to talk about those ingredients that make dishes REALLY tasty.
While current trends often rely on fat, meat, fish, fermentation and salt for flavour, there are other foods that add flavour and depth such as seaweeds, mushrooms, herbs and spices.
I used to use Recboat and Son fish sauces because they made everything taste great and I got hooked. When I decided to stop using them a year ago I began experimenting with how to achieve the same depth of flavour and umami. After trial and error, I eventually came across a recipe for ‘No fish sauce’ by Michelle Tan on the internet that I adapted. I use it wherever traditional fish sauce is required. I love it. i hope you do too.
I also use it in salad dressings, soups, sauces, spice pastes and marinades. It is incredibly versatile. It does require you to think ahead in order to soak the shiitake mushrooms but the flavour from a long soak is worth the effort!
This sauce contains salt and coconut aminos (which is fermented) however you can use less, omit either one or both and still have a deeply flavourful sauce.
No Fish Sauce
Ingredients
30 grams dried shitake mushrooms soaked overnight or up to 24 hours in 4 cups filtered water
10 grams dried porcini mushrooms, thoroughly rinsed + soaked in boiling water
1/3 cup dried Atlantic dulse whole leaves, packed
4 squares of dried kombu
1/4 cup + 2 tsp Maldon sea salt flakes
1 tsp black peppercorns, slightly crushed
1 tsp white pepperoni, slightly crushed
1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, slightly crushed
4 tablespoons naked coconut aminos
Instructions
Rinse and soak the dried shitake mushrooms in 4 cups water in a ceramic bowl for 12 to 24 hours.
The next day rinse the porcini mushrooms and place in a mid sized sauce pan. Add in the shiitake mushrooms with all their water, the dulse, kelp, slightly crushed peppercorns, salt and coconut aminos. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 30 minutes stirring occasionally to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom or sides of the pan.
Turn off the heat. Allow to cool covered until it is room temperature. Sterilise 1-2 glass jars. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve in to a ceramic or glass bowl. Squeeze out the water from the shiitake and procini mushrooms and save for another use. Throw away the rest. Store in glass jars in the refrigerator. Label with date made and use within a few weeks.