Halal terms

Fish sauce on Southeast Asian menus

The salad arrives with a sharp, salty dressing and you cannot tell what is in it.

Fish sauce is a salty, amber liquid made by fermenting fish with salt. It supplies the savoury depth in Thai and Vietnamese cooking, which is why it turns up in dishes that contain no fish at all.

How will I meet it on the trip?

Look for it in papaya salad dressing, in larb, in stir-fried noodles, in fried rice, in Vietnamese dipping sauce for spring rolls and noodles, and in some soups. It also sits in a small bottle on the table, ready to be added. You will not always see it, because it is mixed into the dressing before the dish arrives.

What needs checking?

Fish sauce is one question. The surrounding ones are separate.

Do you or your family accept fish-based seasoning?
Does the dressing contain anything else you avoid, such as pork or alcohol?
Is the dipping bowl or ladle shared with a pork dish?
Is the dish made at a stall that also sells pork?

If you are not sure where your own line sits on fermented fish, ask your ustaz before the trip, not at the counter.

A tip before you order

Say “no fish sauce” and point to the dish, then ask if salt or soy can replace it. Dishes cooked to order are easier to adapt than ones already sitting in a pot. The dietary enquiry brief generator can write the request for you, and the meal-assurance comparison tool helps compare stalls by claim state.

Compare with oyster sauce and shrimp paste, and read about shared kitchens under cross-contamination.

If your family is fine with fish-based seasoning but wants the pork and alcohol questions answered, send us your route and we will help you build a short list of questions.

Ask about a menu

Common questions

Is fish sauce halal?

Fish sauce is made from fish and salt, so it is not a meat or alcohol ingredient by itself. How you treat fermented fish products is for you or your ustaz to decide. The practical risks sit around it: other ingredients in the dressing, and shared bowls and utensils.

Where is fish sauce in dishes with no fish?

It is the salt-and-umami base of Thai som tam and larb dressings, and of Vietnamese dipping sauce for rolls and noodles. It also seasons fried rice and some soups. A menu line such as 'vegetable' or 'tofu' does not mean the sauce is fish-free.

How do I ask for a dish without it?

Say 'no fish sauce' and point to the dish, then ask if soy sauce or salt can replace it. A stall that cooks to order can usually adapt a simple dish. If the sauce is already in a shared pot, choose something else.

Keep planning

Halal, Muslim-owned, pork-free: what each claim meansYou see a sign that says halal, and you are not sure what it is actually saying.Dietary enquiry brief generatorYou need to ask a kitchen about pork, lard and alcohol, and you do not share a language.Meal-assurance comparison toolTwo offers both say halal meals included, and you cannot tell which one actually proves it.Ten questions for a tour operator before payingThe brochure says halal meals included, and you want that turned into something checkable.