Vegetarian Fish Sauce

Let's be honest, there's no faking the flavor of good-old fashioned fish sauce. It lends an authentic flavor to Southeast Asian cuisine that cannot be duplicated. That being said, if you're a vegetarian, or just don't fancy rotting fish smells, here is a veggie-friendly version that approximates the real thing.

I usually just use the Healthy Boy Mushroom Soy instead of fish sauce these days, but this recipe adds a little more depth of flavor, mouth feel, ocean scent, etc. that might help get you closer. I'd suggest just going with the mushroom soy for the sake of simplicity, though...

1 cup Healthy Boy brand mushroom-flavored soy sauce (this stuff is the closest of the soy sauces I've used)
4 TB tamari
1 TB Vegetarian Oyster Sauce
1/4 tsp MSG (optional)
1/4 cup Thai chiles (diced, optional)
2" square piece of kombu


Combine all ingredients and let sit for one day. Remove kombu and bottle. Use as you would fish sauce...