Welcome!


This is a membership forum. Guests can view 5 pages for free. To participate, please join.

[ Pitmaster Club Information | Join Now | Login | Contact Us ]

Only 4 free page views remaining.

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

"Dry age" with fish sauce?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    "Dry age" with fish sauce?

    I'm just hearing about this. Apparently brushing your steak with fish sauce, vacuum sealing it, and letting it sit in the fridge for a few days creates a similar umami flavor as actually dry aging a steak.
    Last edited by Attjack; May 30, 2018, 08:06 AM.

    #2
    There's something fishy about this. (Come on - you know someone was going to say this. )

    Comment


      #3
      I may be crazy, but I recently bought a 31 day dry aged prime New York from a renowned butcher. I was super excited to cook it, reverse seared it just like I do all my other steaks. It was cooked perfectly, medium rare with a nice caramelization on the outside...but I hated the flavor. Only way I can describe it is to say that it had a "funk" or almost a gamey taste to it. Did I get a bad cut or is that the actual flavor of dry aged beef? If the fish sauce thing works as you suggest, I'd say that is probably in line with the flavor I experienced.

      Comment


      • EdF
        EdF commented
        Editing a comment
        Definitely a matter of taste preference. I like them around 40 days so far, and will push the period up to 45 next time. But, some people just don't like the effect.

      • texastweeter
        texastweeter commented
        Editing a comment
        I love the super funky flavor of heavily aged beef. At some point it starts to almost be cheese like.

      • JakeT
        JakeT commented
        Editing a comment
        Hmm, I'll definitely give it another shot but my first impression wasn't too good. Maybe because I just didn't know what to expect.

      #4
      Fish sauce aging and warm sous vide aging will produce good flavors and textures. Red Boat Fish Salt seems to be the most recommended.

      It will not produce the same result as dry aging. It will produce something along the same lines.

      If you're interested, I think the Kosher Dosher has the most experiments and most thorough write ups of both techniques.

      If you're interested in other things along the same lines, koji rice is probably the next place to look.

      Comment


      • EdF
        EdF commented
        Editing a comment
        And BTW, regular old cured anchovies, mashed up, can add a lot of umami without being obtrusive. Often stuff a bit into a lamp leg roll along with herbs.

      • Troutman
        Troutman commented
        Editing a comment
        Say EdF, you talkin' about lamp leg like on A Christmas Story?

      • EdF
        EdF commented
        Editing a comment
        Guess you got me there, Troutman!

      #5
      I can't imagine the results of this "mock aging" process. I've never tried it but can say with a degree of certainty and experience that I really doubt its anywhere near the same as actual dry aging, at least in an Umai bag (which is what I'm familiar with). My Asian wife uses fish sauce all the time and I absolutely abhor it. I can tell when there's a thimble full in a large pot of stew. If my steaks tasted anything at all like that, I'd pulverize it.

      But hey what do I know, I'm just a good old boy from 'Merika......

      Comment


        #6
        I've tried it and it gives a dry aged taste indeed..
        It mimics the drayage process
        Last edited by Elton's BBQ; May 30, 2018, 01:09 PM.

        Comment


        • EdF
          EdF commented
          Editing a comment
          Thumbs up!

        • Troutman
          Troutman commented
          Editing a comment
          Oh yea EdF I almost forgot about Lutefisk, that’s worse than fish sauce.

        • Elton's BBQ
          Elton's BBQ commented
          Editing a comment
          Hmm not sure about that @Troutman.. fermentated trout might be worse..

        #7

        Comment


        • ebysea
          ebysea commented
          Editing a comment
          Thank you for sharing! I will definitely have to try this in the future!

        • Elton's BBQ
          Elton's BBQ commented
          Editing a comment
          You are welcome ebysea

        #8
        EdF Off topic, but would love to get that lamb leg recipe! Anchovies are a staple in my pantry! We joke that I should carry a tin with me for when we go to restaurants that don't offer them with their "Caesar" salad!

        Comment


        • ebysea
          ebysea commented
          Editing a comment
          @texastweeter... hmmm... would fit in my purse better too!! 😂😂😂 Good idea!

        • Troutman
          Troutman commented
          Editing a comment
          OK I read and re-read your recipe EdF , so where's the anchove paste?

        • EdF
          EdF commented
          Editing a comment
          Chef's addition. Optional of course. My usual approach is do a recipe as written to understand what they're trying to do, then improvise.

        #9
        Must try, thanks for sharing Attjack.

        Comment


          #10
          Another way to add umami to a stew-like dish is put in a dollop of....MARMITE! Works like anchovies.

          Comment


          • ebysea
            ebysea commented
            Editing a comment
            Potkettleblack where do you purchase it? On the website it looks like they only ship to the UK.

          • Potkettleblack
            Potkettleblack commented
            Editing a comment
            Oddly, it's at my grocery in Chicago. Pretty sure Amazon has it, as well. Or maybe not in this country anymore... crap.

          • EdF
            EdF commented
            Editing a comment
            The Australian marmite alternative is vegemite - another big time umami booster.

          #11
          Ill stick to the tried and true methods, or buy it pre aged.

          Comment


            #12
            I should have linked to KosherDosher.
            He has a page of all his experiments with faux aging, warm aging, and I think MooGlue:


            Regarding the next frontier, beyond fish sauce faux aging, sous vide warm aging, there is koji rice fungus aging:

            I have a mind to try that out... at some point.

            Comment


              #13
              Having thought through all this and looking at the mock aging stuff, it's interesting and fun to experiment, but no way a few teaspoons full of fish sauce is going to replicate putting a whole 14# boneless ribeye in a $10 Umai bag for 30+ days. The natural enzymes are going to do the job much better than faux this or that. It's easy and it's cheap.....

              Click image for larger version

Name:	dry age step 4.jpg
Views:	758
Size:	77.5 KB
ID:	508620

              Comment


              • Potkettleblack
                Potkettleblack commented
                Editing a comment
                There isn't a substitute for actual aging. It does textural things and flavor things. Umai is one of the better solutions for the home cook.

              • EdF
                EdF commented
                Editing a comment
                Completely agree with both of you, says a satisfied customer!

                Next, the salumi family!

              • barelfly
                barelfly commented
                Editing a comment
                Good stuff right there. Like EdF says, I definitely want to get into the sausage meat process with umai bags next.

              #14
              I have tried the fish sauce on steaks and it worked fine. It does give it the Dry age funk. There is no fishy taste. If I remember right I put the fish sauce in a bag with a steak for a few days. Then rubbed it off and let it sit in the fridge for a few days on a rack open to air. Then grilled them as normal. They were really good. Too much work for me so I have yet to do it again.

              Comment


                #15
                Truth is I've never had a dry aged steak so if I try it I'll have nothing to compare it to.

                Comment


                • EdF
                  EdF commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Sounds like time to establish a baseline - scientifically speaking as they say! ;-)

                • Attjack
                  Attjack commented
                  Editing a comment
                  My girlfriend gave me a $50 gift certificate to the best butcher in the city. I've actually never even been there. I was thinking of getting my first brisket, but I guess I could consider dry aged steak... or both.

                • Troutman
                  Troutman commented
                  Editing a comment
                  If you have a Whole Foods Market near you they dry age their meat on premise. It's too pricey for me, doing my own is as good as far as I'm concerned. Jump in the deep end of the pool, water is fine !!!

              Announcement

              Collapse
              No announcement yet.
              Working...
              X
              false
              0
              Guest
              Guest
              500
              ["pitmaster-my-membership","login","join-pitmaster","lostpw","reset-password","special-offers","help","nojs","meat-ups","gifts","authaau-alpha","ebooklogin-start","alpha","start"]
              false
              false
              {"count":0,"link":"/forum/announcements/","debug":""}
              Yes
              ["\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads","\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads\/1157845-paid-members-download-your-6-deep-dive-guide-ebooks-for-free-here","\/forum\/the-pitcast","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2019-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2020-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2021-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2022-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/current-2023-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/current-2024-issues","\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads\/1165909-trial-members-download-your-free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-here"]
              /forum/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads/1165909-trial-members-download-your-free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-here