Dip Your Dumplings In Fish Sauce And Thank Us Later

Fish sauce can be traced back to the era of the ancient Greeks, where it went by the name gàros. There's speculation that its introduction and popularity in Southeast Asia was largely due to the Romans, who traded it along the famous Silk Road. While this historical puzzle may not yet (or ever) be solved, the presence of fish sauce in kitchens all over the world is indisputable. While its pungent, salty essence is an important element in many complex dishes, it works incredibly well as a dip for a variety of steamed or fried Asian dumplings.

From steaming baskets of jiaozi to crispy and golden gyozas, there is a spectacular range of delicious dumplings to dip. Fish sauce is profoundly savory and abundant in umami, making it a perfect match for many savory dumpling fillings. Whether that's delicate shrimp, flaky crab meat, or juicy pork, the fermented flavor of fish sauce adds funky, tangy notes that effortlessly coat each dumpling.

While fish sauce can stand alone as a dip, it also plays well with sweet, acidic, and other umami flavors. Fish sauce as an ingredient in an amped-up dipping sauce on dumpling night will always impress a crowd.

If straight-up fish sauce sounds like too pungent a kick, you can use it to make nước chấm, a Vietnamese-style dipping sauce. This widespread sauce, while recipes vary, usually includes fish sauce, water, sugar, lime juice, and rice vinegar. Sometimes it has grated carrot, garlic, or spicy chiles. It's lively, fresh, and vibrantly bright. The combination of sugar and salty, fermented fish creates a wonderfully balanced and complex sauce. You might be surprised to learn that fish sauce can even be used in desserts, given its versatile nature.

If you're more inclined to serve your dumplings with a soy sauce-based dip, fish sauce can help you step up your game. Combining these two fermented flavors creates a uniquely fragranced sauce that's complex, rich, dark, and beautifully savory. As both ingredients are extremely salty, keep in mind it's easy to overdo it. When experimenting with this dipping sauce, taste test often, and incorporate other complementary ingredients like spicy chiles or sugar for needed balance.

There are subtle flavor differences in the varying brands of fish sauce. Squid, a brand of Thai fish sauce, has more sodium than other varieties, and in turn tastes saltier, while the blue label Megachef, a Vietnamese brand, has lighter, sweeter notes. Since the latter fish sauce has more subtle flavors and is not as aggressively salty, it would work well as a dip for dumplings with delicate seafood ingredients, like prawns.

Red Boat is another exceptionally popular fish sauce and is considered a premium brand. Made with only two ingredients — black anchovies caught off the shores of the Vietnamese island Phu Quoc, and salt — this brand is known for being extremely salty, highly pure, and incredibly versatile. Red Boat could act as a dip on its own for any kind of dumpling, or bring umami notes as an all-star ingredient in a variety of dishes.

There are many factors to consider when picking out a brand of fish sauce. Whichever brand you choose, enjoy exploring this culinary trajectory and funky flavors — your dumplings will never taste better.