Sauce, fish, ready-to-serve

Fish sauce is a pungent, amber liquid made from fermented fish and salt, and it's a foundational seasoning in Vietnamese and Thai cooking. A small splash rounds out dipping sauces like nuoc cham, seasons stir-fries and soups, and adds savory depth to marinades for grilled meats and seafood. Its smell is strong straight from the bottle, but it mellows into a background savory note once cooked into a dish or diluted with lime juice, sugar, and chile in a dipping sauce. Many cooks treat it the way others treat salt, adding a few drops at the end of cooking to sharpen the overall flavor of a soup or curry.

A tablespoon (18 g) has 35 calories, and per 100 g it stands out for magnesium at 42% DV alongside 10% DV protein. Store the bottle at room temperature in a dark pantry, where it keeps well long-term thanks to its salt content. With 7850 mg sodium per 100 g, cooks measure it in teaspoons or tablespoons rather than pouring it freely, using it to season noodle bowls, stir-fried vegetables, or a simple dipping sauce for spring rolls, and diluting it with lime juice and water tames its saltiness for lighter dishes.