In this world, there are more salty seasonings than fish sauce, but fish sauce has its unique characteristics that cannot be replaced by other seasonings. If we need to use fish sauce other than anchovy, what could it be made from? Although it has a similar taste, aroma and color to the original Southeast Asian anchovy, many dishes do not use fish sauce. Therefore, it may cause a rather unpleasant feeling.
Nowadays, people are avoiding meat consumption due to beliefs, health problems or other reasons. Thailand has a period in that people will not eat meat, known as the Vegetarian Festival. There will be many foods that are similar to real meat but made from plant protein instead. An important ingredient in food, such as seasonings, must be substituted. Those vegetarian menus may use soy sauce, seasoning powder, or salt instead. But of course, the taste will not be the same as using fish, both in terms of smell and color.
Many foreigners are vegan or vegetarian. Some people may have been like that their entire lives because those families didn't eat meat. If it's a country that is almost vegetarian like India, the food must be meat-free. With a culture of food and travel as commonplace, Thailand is a popular destination for tourists who want to savor the food and enjoy authentic Thai flavors. Vegan fish sauce for vegetarians may bring many tasters to Asian cuisine that tastes as close as possible to anchovy-based fish sauce.
Fish sauce from anchovy has been developed into a vegetarian or vegan fish sauce recipe. It contains nutritious and meatless ingredients. We use shiitake mushrooms and kombu to replace anchovy in our fish sauce.
Many people may have seen a general restaurant or a French restaurant where mushrooms are applied instead of meat in many dishes. The aim is to enable vegetarians to clearly imagine some authentic Thai dishes, such as papaya salad with crab and fermented fish, larb or a variety of salads. Those restaurants use soy sauce. However, the smell of kombu seaweed gives us a sense of seawater that is closer to the familiar smell.
Whether it's people who are familiar with fish sauce or foreigners who are not familiar with dipping sauce or Foods prepared with fish sauce that are not heat-treated, they may feel the fish sauce has a unique smell. They may find the smell too strong and unfamiliar. If they tasted our vegan fish sauce, they might like the taste better than the regular one because of the subtle smell of shiitake and kombu.
If you have a chance to taste our vegan fish sauce, you may feel more connected to Thai fish sauce flavored dishes and fully appreciate the savory flavor of vegetarian food.