Fish Sauce

fish sauce is a liquid obtained from fermented fish with salt. Fish sauce is usually used as a spice for cooking, dipping seafood, and food of the East, made by fishermen along the Asean countries. Name of fish sauce in Asean countries is also different (Indonesia: paste; Thailand: nam pla, Philippines: patis; Japan: shottsuru, and Vietnamese: nước MAM). The uniqueness of the characteristics of fish sauce is a salty taste and smell of fish.

Fish sauce in many countries
In Vietnam fish sauce (nouc mam) made with salted small fish that have been mashed by hand and stored in containers of soil, then planted in soil for 3 to several months. One liter nouc mam good quality containing 15.85 grams of total nitrogen (11.15 grams of organic nitrogen and 5 grams of amino nitrogen), 270 grams of sodium chloride, 0.5 grams of CaO. In addition, containing methyl ketone nauc high fever that causes smelled like cheese, amino acids, bases and volatile acids, as well as histamine.
In the Philippines, fish sauce is made using small pieces of fish and fish shrimp (Atya sp). Manufacturing process is the same as nouc fever, although less complete, and without the need for time considerations. Patis is made by partially drying the moisture content in the fermentation with the boil.
In the Thai fish sauce (nam pla) is made from fish Clupeidae and can also be of small fish. Manufacturing process is the same as nouc fever but is usually much simpler with curing time of 6 months, even 2-3 years is recommended to produce a better product. The approach is, 1 kg of fish would produce 1 liter of nam-pla. In some areas of Thailand, nam-pla also sometimes made from freshwater fish.
In Japan, shottsuru prepared from sardines, herring or the remnants of fish processing waste. Making almost the same as any other fish sauce manufacture. The addition of antioxidants has also been recommended in the product to prevent ketengikan. While in Indonesia paste made by cooking and fermentation liquid mengkonsentratkan salted fish that has been mentioned with adding a little flour. The products are usually of low quality fish sauce products compared with countries in Southeast Asia because the ratio of nitrogen and salts rather low.
Processing
During the fermentation process of hydrolysis of fish tissues by enzymes produced by microorganisms. The role of these enzymes are as polypeptide-polypeptide bond-breaking becomes more simple bond. Microorganisms that develop during fermentation of fish is not fully known. Nevertheless predicted the kinds of lactic acid bacteria such as Laucosotic mesenterides, Pediococccus cerevisiae and Lactobacillus plantarum to grow. Several types of yeast are also expected to join growing in fermentation.
The process of salting on the traditional fish processing will cause the loss of fish protein by 5%, depending on salinity and duration of salting, it is recommended for salt that is added does not exceed 40 parts by weight of the fish. Cooking at 95-100 ℃ to reduce the digestibility of protein and amino acids. In addition, soluble proteins, peptides with low molecular weight, and free amino acids can be dissolved in boiling water, so that the boiling should be under 100 ℃. Excessive heating (above 90 ℃ repeatedly) can cause the formation of H2S which damage the flavor and reduce the availability of cysteine in the product. In addition, heating also causes the Maillard reaction between amino compounds by reducing sugars which form the melanoidin, a brown polymer which lowers the value of the product appearance. Also occur because the browning reaction between proteins, peptides, and amino acids by the decomposition of fat. This reaction can reduce the nutritional value of fish protein by lowering the value of digestibility and availability of amino acids, especially lysine.
In general, processing salted fish sauce is the fish that have been mashed, then stored in a sealed container for 3 to several months. Furthermore, the resulting liquid is filtered to get pulp-free fish sauce, then packed in sterile bottles and pasteurized. [Edit] Another alternative manufacture of fish sauce
Making fish sauce is traditionally require relatively long time. Protease-producing microorganism adaptation takes a long time to be able to live in a state of high salinity environment and other abnormal conditions.
Engineering addition of proteolytic enzymes before fermentation can shorten the time of manufacture of fish sauce. In case this is not needed anymore time adaptation of microorganisms to produce enzymes that can hydrolyze proteins.
High prices are pure proteolytic enzymes become constraints to produce fish sauce is quick, easy and inexpensive. But by making use of papaya latex and pineapple fruit extract has been able to replace the role of proteolytic enzymes which were pure.
In papaya fruit latex have often called proteolytic enzymes papain. Papain has a high capacity to hydrolyze proteins. In the food industry, papain is quite widely used among others to maintain the freshness of beer, softening the meat and remove the protein in food. while the pineapple fruit, particularly pineapple too young there are other proteolytic enzymes bromelin. Its ability to hydrolyze the protein is also not much different from papain.
But the problem, the resulting fish sauce flavor and color are far different from the fish sauce is traditionally

made, although not much different nutritional content.