ABSTRACT
Fish sauce is a clear, amber to reddish brown liquidwith a predominantly salty taste and characteristic aroma. It is obtained from the hydrolysis of fish with salt through natural fermentation for 6-12 months. Fish sauce is well recognized as a food flavoring by the people in Southeast Asia for many centuries. Hundred of millions of liters of fish sauce are produced and consumed by at least 300 million people annually (1). In Thailand, fish sauce or nam pla is the major and the most common condiment in the household. Nam pla is used as a flavoring sauce in almost every Thai dish, as well as in various types of dipping sauce. Budu is another fish sauce product similar to nam pla. It is produced and consumed only in the provinces in the south close toMalaysia. Thus, it is believed to be of Malaysian origin and mostly used by theMuslim people (2). Not only Thailand, in Asia, but particularly Southeast Asian countries such as Burma, (Myanmar), Laos, Kampuchea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam with a similar tropical climate and high humidity also produce fish sauce under different names (Table 1). At present, Thailand is the largest producer of fish sauce in the region.
