The real secret to the most delicious sauces you’ve ever tasted is one anchovy fillet chopped into paste and simmered into the sauce, for every litre/quart of sauce you are making.
I just made Serious Eats All-American Beef Stew earlier today, and they call for anchovies (which I had none, so I substituted fish sauce) as the umami bomb. But even for folks who get grossed out by little fish, it gets blended with chicken stock, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce (and gelatin), to create the base. Fish sauce has become a staple in my house for certain recipes, it’s great.
MSG, yes, kindof. Just adding normal table salt will only give about 50% of the effect of the umami punch that anchovies provide. Possibly less, and it’s far too easy to add too much salt.
The real secret to the most delicious sauces you’ve ever tasted is one anchovy fillet chopped into paste and simmered into the sauce, for every litre/quart of sauce you are making.
I just made Serious Eats All-American Beef Stew earlier today, and they call for anchovies (which I had none, so I substituted fish sauce) as the umami bomb. But even for folks who get grossed out by little fish, it gets blended with chicken stock, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce (and gelatin), to create the base. Fish sauce has become a staple in my house for certain recipes, it’s great.
It’s why the Romans didn’t use salt as a condiment, but fish sauce. The umami+salt is different and objectively better.
And you can get 90% of the effect/taste by just adding more salt.
MSG, yes, kindof. Just adding normal table salt will only give about 50% of the effect of the umami punch that anchovies provide. Possibly less, and it’s far too easy to add too much salt.
ad infinitum… or ad kidneyitum, maybe