A really simple homemade vegan ‘fish’ sauce perfect to be used for noodle stir-fries, curries, and more!
This homemade vegan ‘fish’ sauce is made with really simple ingredients.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED FOR THIS VEGAN FISH SAUCE
- ¼ cup coconut sugar (55 g)
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- ¾ cup boiling water (180 ml)
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice (30 ml)
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt or more depending on desired saltiness
COCONUT SUGAR
I used coconut sugar as a sweetener for this because it’s slightly nutty with a slight hint of caramel flavour that isn’t as sweet as regular cane sugar.
This is also what gives the sauce the brown, somewhat golden colour. Palm sugar will work perfectly, too.
RECIPES USING VEGAN FISH SAUCE
PAD KEE MAO
I used my homemade fish sauce recipe to cook some Pad Kee Mao or Thai Drunken Noodles and it really adds a nice layer of flavour to the savoury and spicy noodle dish.
PAD THAI
One of my favourite noodle recipes is this Pad Thai! I made this dish with tofu for protein, added crunch from bean sprouts and peanuts, tang from lime and an extra kick of spice from chili powder!
CHA GIO CHAY
I also used this for my Cha Gio Chay (Vietnamese Fried Vegetarian Spring Rolls) and Bun Cha Gio Chay (Vietnamese Noodles and Fried Vegetarian Spring Rolls Bowls) recipes as the dipping sauce (nuoc cham). It pairs perfectly, too!
MORE RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE
- Pad Thai
- Japanese Chahan or Fried Rice
- Tofu Sisig
- Shredded Tofu ‘Bulgogi’
- Crispy Eggplant Katsu
- Chili Garlic and Black Bean Eggplant Noodles
- Easy Sweet, Spicy, and Saucy Noodles
- Stir-Fried Tofu and Basil Noodles
- Pan-Fried Tofu Cakes
- Tofu ‘McNuggets’
- Tantanmen (Vegan Ramen)
Vegan Fish Sauce
Ingredients
- ¼ cup coconut sugar (55 g)
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- ¾ cup boiling water (180 ml)
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice (30 ml)
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt or more depending on desired saltiness
Instructions
- In a small heatproof bowl, add in the sugar, chili flakes, and garlic.
- Pour in the boiling water. Mix well until the sugar has dissolved.
- Add in the lime juice and the salt. You can start with the least amount of salt and just add more depending on your desired saltiness level.
- Leave the sauce to cool before storing in an airtight container. Keep the sauce in the refrigerator until ready to use. The flavors will get stronger as it sits. This sauce is good for up to 2 to 3 weeks.
NUTRITIONAL INFO
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This Post Has 23 Comments
Just wondering if it’s possible to replace the coconut sugar with something like cane sugar?
Hi Pinky! Yes you can replace it with regular cane sugar but the colour won’t be brown if you use regular white sugar. If you’d like to get that golden brown colour for the sauce you can opt for brown sugar. 🙂 hope this helps!
How long does this last in the fridge?? Thanks!
Hi Dan! The longest I’ve stored mine was 3 weeks. It can possibly last longer! ◡̈
Thanks so much for this recipe! Made it yesterday and it was surprisingly simple & such a wonderful substitute for fish sauce! All your recipes are awesome…keep them coming please!
Thanks so much Steph!! 🙂
I LOVE all your recipes so much! I have made several of them, and I’m sure I will make many more. My only issue is that I need to do substitutes because I’m on a low FODMAP diet, so I can’t have garlic or onion (green onion/scallions are fine). I can have garlic-infused oil, so if a recipe includes both oil and garlic, I ditch the garlic and hopefully, the garlic flavor in the oil helps. I really want to make this fish sauce, but it has no oil. Do you have any ideas of substitutes for garlic? I know it’s a crazy question, but I thought I’d ask! Thanks again for your amazing recipes! I live in the U.S. and I’m half Japanese and your recipes are true comfort food for me – they make me happy.
Hi Janice! You can do away with garlic-infused oil for the fish sauce or even just leave it out. Hope this helps. 🙂
Hi Jeeca! I was wondering if I could use Jaggery instead of the coconut sugar, do you think the flavour would remain similar? (I am making the vegan fish sauce for the Peanut Satay Noodle Soup – I was also wondering if you by any chance have a homemade vegetable broth recipe that you recommend?) Thanks ^.^
Hi Smriti! I personally haven’t tried jaggery but I believe it’s similar to cane sugar? So should work okay too. As for the veggie broth I don’t use any recipes since I like to use store-bought broth or vegetable bouillon but I can recommend a good mix of leeks, onions, carrots, celery, and even leftover vegetable scraps (like cauliflower leaves and broccoli stalks) and leave it to cook in water for 2-3 hours and season with some salt, to taste. ◡̈ hope this helps
Does the sauce freeze well?
Hi Valerie, yes you can freeze this but I’d recommend just placing this in the fridge, should be no problem to keep for 1-2 months or even longer. 🙂
Great recipe. Replaced the plain water with wakame soaking water. Perfect. Thanks a lot.
Ooh that’s a brilliant idea! Thanks so much Dirk!
Jeeca, your vegan fish sauce is lip-smacking delicious and exactly what I’ve been looking for! Thank you for sharing your recipe <3. I know there is a vegan fish sauce made with fermented pineapple, but I haven't been able to find it. Have you ever tried making it with pineapple?
Hi Rekha, thanks so much! I’ve never tried it with pineapple but i’ve been wanting to give it a try. I’ll def share it when I do!!
Could I use maple syrup instead of coconut sugar?
It’d alter the flavour so I don’t recommend it. Best sub would be regular sugar. ◡̈
Super easy to make! Used some for a Filipino dish and had plenty left over – Used the sauce as a marinade for tempeh. Yum! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much too! 🙂
I love this vegan fish sauce! It’s my go-to recipe 🙂
Yay thank you, Natal!! 🙂
This is so helpful! I had no idea where to start on my own. For my taste I used only 6tbsp of water and added 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar for that fermenty flavor. Miso would work well also but may need to reduce that salt.