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Angus beef roast + fish sauce + Ceylon cinnamon

3K views 28 replies 13 participants last post by  kokopuffs 
#1 ·
The fish sauce aka anchovie extract fills out the flavor like no other ever could.  The Ceylon cinnamon aka Mexican cinnamon, adds a lil' sparkle, too.  A great flavour combination for Angus beef braised a la pot roast.
 
#4 · (Edited)
I used only 1/4 tsp fish sauce for a 3# roast along with the usual amount of wine and beef stock and veggies.  Not overpowering at all but it, indeed, adds a special saltiness that's tastey.
 
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#8 ·
There's a school of thought that it loses/shifts flavor over about 6 months. French Fries has detected the shift himself and asked about it and I pointed him to vietworldkitchen.com where that blogger talked about it as well.

I can see a color change around that point, but I'm harder pressed to say it tastes off.
 
#9 ·
There's a school of thought that it loses/shifts flavor over about 6 months. French Fries has detected the shift himself and asked about it and I pointed him to vietworldkitchen.com where that blogger talked about it as well.

I can see a color change around that point, but I'm harder pressed to say it tastes off.
I've heard the same "6-month" thing too but can't tell the difference between fresh and 1-year old stored in the refrigerator. I asked my favorite Vietnamese neighbor once but he couldn't comment since it never lasts very long in his household anyway. After a couple of years I noticed a color change because solids started to settle or precipitate out. That's when I throw it away and buy new... because I assume it changes the flavor even though I can't really tell with my tongue.
 
#11 ·
I believe that Worcestershire sauce contains anchovy.  And I possess Thai brand fish sauce, my first bottle, and not being a connaisseur of the stuff, it tastes the same even after spending a year at home.
 
#15 ·
I can only get "oyster" brand.

It's OK.

I went to Vietnam a couple of years ago and their fish sauce was amazing!

But you were not allowed to take it on the plane, otherwise I would have bought plenty.

I am a big fish sauce fan
 
#18 ·
Well, I'm not sure why others don't report the same experience I have.... I have tried many different types of fish sauce, Thai stuff, Vietnamese stuff, Three Crabs, Squid, Lucky, and more recently Red Boat. I know most people tell you they keep forever, but that's definitely not my experience.

Just now I've had a small bottle of Red Boat fish sauce in my fridge since beginning of July, the stuff is COMPLETELY different from when I bought it, I'm probably going to have to throw it away and buy a new one. I'm not talking about a subtle difference either. The sauce went from quite clear and see-through to very dark and completely opaque. The flavor is completely different. Think fresh goat cheese vs aged goat cheese perhaps. Much, much stronger, in fact just open the bottle and it starts stinking the whole house (a brand new bottle does not do that).

I found that others have reported the same experience I have. Here's a poster on the eGullet forum, comparing a 2 year old bottle of fish sauce with the same sauce, brand new bottle:

 
#20 ·
@French Fries It's a ferment. It is alive. It will change with time. Some would say that the fishy smell you observe is desirable.

It's about learning how to use it. Add a little bit at a time, taste, and adjust. I don't follow recipe amounts when it comes to fish sauce, soy sauce, miso or any other ferments. It varies way too much.
I understand all of that, but what I'm saying is that while the taste is really good, strong yet delicate, powerful but rich and complex, when the bottle is new, a few months later the flavor profile has turned into something that's completely overpowering, vile, rotten, muddy, undefined.... even if you use less of it (because it's so much stronger), it doesn't taste nearly the same.

And for what it's worth I never really measure my ingredients, I do it all by taste. And I've used fish sauce ever since I was a kid. So it's not like I'm new to it. I know exactly the kind of flavor I want it to bring to my dish, only once the bottle is a few months old, it no longer does the trick IMO.
 
#23 ·
I was just watching the new Emeril show "Emeril Eats the World" where he went to Italy and was hanging out with Nancy Silverton.  They showed them making fish sauce using alternating layers of anchovies and salt.  They let it ferment and they let the sauce drip out a hole in the bottom of the vessel.
 
#24 ·
Well, after a few days of pondering the flavors, here's what I have to state:  the usage of fish sauce widens the depth of the salty flavor giving a more fuller flavor profile (and mouthfeel???).
 
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