OT: Oh the thrill of fish sauce!

[Guest guest]

After posting about the sourdough bread I got to thinking about this story I

wrote that was published in our local health food stores news letter.  I truly

hope this is not so far off topic that I offend but I've gotten rave reviews for

the story so I thought all of you might enjoy it as well.  ~~

Oh the THRILL of Fish Sauce!

I am trying about every recipe I can in the Nourishing Traditions bookby Sally

Fallon so when I saw ketchup....I thought it will be healthier and I can control

the sugar content so yeah, I'll do that.

It calls for fish sauce. I won't go into detail as to what that recipe calls for

if you choose to make it from scratch unless you are curious enough to ask but

being from Bald Knob, AR I thought it would be easier to just buy this since the

ingredients are not just around the corner.

So I went shopping yesterday. From the ingredient list I thought fishsauce would

be thick and dark but it wasn't, it was thin and brownlooking...kind of like

sesame oil. I found some at my local Harp's store. Does Wal-Mart have it? Don't

have a clue.

Today I decide was " ketchup making day " . I got my organic tomato paste seasoned

with oregano, basil and something else out of the cans and into the bowl with

virtual ease. I then opened the now famous bottle of fish sauce.

Do Not Open this close to your face!! The smell will singe your eyebrows!! Being

the good, adventurous cook that ALWAYS taste what she uses, I think ok, this is

absolutely horrible but SURELY it has some good flavor since it is going into

KETCHUP no less!

I cautiously proceed to pour a very small amount into a spoon. Like someone

taking medicine I quickly put it in my mouth, closed my lips, swallowed and

GAGGED!!! It taste worse than it smelled!!

Now my kitchen smells like rotten salted fish...my mouth taste like rotten

salted fish and I MUST spread my joy! No cook does good without taste testers,

you know.

My dear sweet mother-in-law that graces my home with her presence may decide to

move after today. She was my first victim...ooops, taster. I couldn't talk for

laughing at her as she gulped her water and made her faces.

The next uummm...taster was my 20 month old grandson. Ok, I know...Iwas mean.

Between the two of them...I did a dance to the bathroom just before the accident

would've occurred!

After I collected myself I finished mixing the ingredients for the ketchup and

included the fish sauce. Unbelievably...it taste like ketchup! Of course, it

still has to ferment for 2 days and that will tell the REAL tale. Stay tuned for

that update.

So, this afternoon when my daughter Nicola came in between college and work...I

pulled out the fish sauce. Wise daughter, that one. As the spoon neared her

nostrils, she sniffed, proceeded to turn green and declared... " I am NOT putting

that in my mouth!! " For some reason I like to have never got her to try the

ketchup but, she did and said it was good but not sweet enough at this point.

Now, I am waiting for Houston to get home....

The Ketchup Recipe

Makes 1 quart

3 cups canned tomato paste (mine was seasoned as mentioned)

1/4 cup whey

1 TBSP sea salt (I didn't add this...my rotten salty fish was enough)

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ( I used my dash spoon instead)

3 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed (see my note)

1/2 cup homemade fish sauce (yeah right) or commercial fish sauce (commercial

all the way!)

Mix all until well blended. Place in quart-sized, wide mouth mason jar. Leave 1

inch head space. Leave at room temperature for about 2 days then transfer to

refrigerator.

My note: a few days ago I was going to pickled garlic (in the book too) and it

suggested cooking the garlic slightly in the oven for easier peeling. Well, mine

was cooked almost to mush so I removed the husk and placed the mashed garlic in

a bowl with whey and have had easy access to garlic as needed and this was what

I used in the recipe.

THE UPDATE:

After letting it ferment 3 full days, I fried potatoes in my homemade butter,

coconut oil and olive oil. I made burgers that I put onion powder, garlic

powder, whey, flax meal and black pepper in so, we had " burger and fries " . The

ketchup was a TOTAL hit in my house and my family doesn't want commercial brands

again!! To think it had fish sauce in it and is such a hit is phenomenal!! Try

it, you'll like it!