Chef’s Kiss: Supermarket Fish Sauces Tested and Rated

As a chef with Filipino heritage, fish sauce practically runs through my veins. And with the amount of it I consume every day, that may well be true!

For some, this flavourful elixir is simply the pongy, brown, salty liquid found in the supermarket’s Asian section. But actually, fish sauce has heritage across Asia and Europe stretching back thousands of years. Even the ancient Romans had their own version, garum, made from salt and fermented fish guts (yuck), which added depth of flavour (yum) to olive oil, vinegar and wine. 

Today, Asian fish sauces are still made by salting fish – typically sardines or anchovies – and fermenting them slowly in vats or barrels, allowing the natural enzymes to break down the proteins into liquid gold. Much like its fermented bean cousin soy sauce, fish sauce is used as a seasoning to impart flavour and nuance to a dish – something mere salt can’t achieve on its own.

Growing up in a Filipino household, my parents used fish sauce to season everything from soups to braises. We’d even have it mixed with spiced vinegar or calamansi juice as a quick, tasty dipping sauce. In the kitchens at Askal and Kariton, we have a bit more fun with it. One of our signature recipes (trust me on this one) is a fish sauce salted caramel paired with dark chocolate gelato. 

Not all fish sauces are created equal. Some are best used as a seasoning in cooking, while others should be used in fresh dipping sauces like Vietnamese nuoc cham, or Thai nam jim. And while first press sauces are considered the gold standard, at home I prefer Squid Brand’s blended sauce for its potency and price point. At the restaurant, though, I use Three Crabs, as it’s both well-rounded and complex.

For this edition of Chef’s Kiss, I tested a range of the most common fish sauces you can get in Australia to find out which product comes out on top, as well as the best application for each. Most of these can usually be found in major supermarkets, though at the time of testing, some had to be sourced from specialty Asian grocers. (Woolworths also makes a home brand product that wasn’t available for this test.)  

To make sure everything was fair and square, I started with a blind taste and aroma test. For me, a good fish sauce shouldn’t be too stinky or fishy. Pungency is expected, but a good product should also have a nice malty fragrance. On the tongue, they should be salty, obviously, but also have a satisfying savouriness and a tinge of sweetness. 

Then, I used each to season my tinola – a simple, comforting Filipino soup of chicken, ginger and black pepper. I chose this dish to see how each fish sauce fared as a seasoning in a clear broth with nowhere to hide. The best products accentuate the soup’s flavours and aromas without overwhelming them. 

Red Boat

Sample price: $18 (500ml) at Asian Pantry
Origin: Vietnam
Ingredients: anchovy (75 per cent), sea salt 
First press: yes

The Rolls-Royce of fish sauces. A near faultless product and truly the best you can buy. Incredibly perfumed, rich and rounded in flavour, balanced and precise. What’s interesting is that there was no “fishiness” on the nose. Instead, it’s something quite sweet and floral. On the tongue, it had the viscosity of a light syrup, with beautiful toasty, nutty and malty notes. All said, using a product like this is both a delight and a privilege – and the beauty of it might be lost on a novice home cook. My advice is to reserve Red Boat for dressings, but you can certainly use it to add nuance to your favourite soup (it did wonders to the tinola). 

5/5

Three Crabs 

Sample price: $15.99 (682ml) at Asian Pantry
Origin: Thailand (processed in Hong Kong) 
Ingredients: anchovy extract, salt, water, fructose and hydrolysed vegetable protein
First press: no

Three Crabs is considered to be the king of blended fish sauces: both delicate and well-balanced. Its pleasant pungency and slightly sweet finish make it perfect for dipping sauces and dressings. Though it’s also a welcome addition to stir-fries, adding complex savouriness to vegetables and proteins as they caramelise in the hot pan. I loved this in the tinola. Not only did it give the broth oomph, it also imparted a lovely golden tinge. If you can find this one and don’t mind spending a few extra bucks, grab a bottle and thank yourself later.

4/5

Megachef

Sample price: $5.89 (700ml) at UMall
Origin: Thailand 
Ingredients: anchovy, sea salt, sugar, syrup
First press: yes

Megachef is arguably the consensus favourite among chefs. And for good reason – it’s a top-shelf product loved for its sweet and salty flavour, rich mouthfeel and purity. It delivers on all fronts and added great depth to the tinola, accentuating the flavour of the chicken and boosting the aroma of the ginger and pepper. I’d highly recommend having this in your pantry because it’ll really dial up those cooked dishes. Hey, if it’s good enough for chefs, it’s got to be worth a look. 

4/5

Squid Brand

Sample price: $2.25 (300ml) at Coles
Origin: Thailand 
Ingredients: anchovy (77 per cent), salt, sugar
First press: no 

Old faithful, and a good baseline for what fish sauce should be – deep umami and rounded saltiness. A slightly pongy (but not offensive) aroma. And a clear golden hue. Whether used as a fresh dipping sauce or to season a broth, Squid gives you what you need. It’s this versatility (along with a great price point) that makes it my favourite. As a bonus, the bottle’s design means it dispenses the liquid like a dainty cruet, so there’s no accidental overdosing. I’ll stand by Squid through thick and thin.

3/5

Chang’s

Sample price: $3.25 (280ml) at Woolworths 
Origin: China (Australian company)
Ingredients: anchovy extract (65 per cent), water, salt, sugar  
First press: no

Chang’s is what I’d call an entry level fish sauce. It ticks all the boxes in terms of aroma and taste. But while neither of those are particularly outstanding, everything you need is here. The saltiness was somewhat jarring on its own, but that flavour mellows out when added to the broth and brings a satisfying savoury note. Keep a bottle of this one for stir-fries or soups, but try one of the other brands if you’ve got a nice dipping sauce in mind.

3/5

Marca Piña Patis

Sample Price: $3 (1L) at Woolworths
Origin: Philippines 
Ingredients: water, fish extract, iodized salt, caramel (150C) and preservative (211)
First press: no

Marca Piña is my nation’s standard bearer. But let me say, if this is the standard, we’re in for a bad time: underwhelming overall, with an intensely pungent aroma on the nose, and a harsh, one-dimensional saltiness to match. It fared better in the tinola, effectively seasoning the chicken broth, but with a single plane of salt and umami. Look, Marca Piña will do the job, but unless you have a nostalgic connection to it (sorry, I do not), I wouldn’t be running to the nearest Filipino grocer for a bottle. 

2/5

Ayam 

Sample price: $4 (210ml) at Coles
Origin: Malaysia
Ingredients: fish extract (anchovy, salt, water; 92 per cent), water, sugar, food acid (260), caramel (150A), salt
First press: no

My least favourite of the lot. The dark golden tinge was a red herring, leading me to expect a high-quality product with a complex flavour profile. But excitement quickly turned to disappointment – even confusion. Ayam was overly salty, a bit smelly, and had the intensity of a roundhouse kick to the face. In the broth, it completely overpowered the fragrance of the ginger and black pepper. This was almost leaning more towards light soy sauce than a fish sauce. Is it good? I don’t think so. Forget fish sauce, file this under catfish sauce.

1/5