Home-made cabbage rolls with a "fishy twist"

   I've recently prepared cabbage rolls.  There was not much difference with other published cabbage roll  recipes (however, I used minimum ingredients for this - carrots, celery and onions, chicken meat and pork, and lots of garlic) but the slight modification made a sumptuous difference, i.e., the fish sauce in the water where I boiled my rolls.  In other recipes tomato sauce is poured on top of the rolls but I did not. Even after the rolls are done, I added some more fish sauce to my liking.  For me and those who like the flavor of fish sauce, this is a welcome treat.






                                       フィッシュソースを使った自家製ロールキャベツ   2012121  lan

      Memo:  Fish sauce is called "patis" in the Philippines, "nampla" in Thailand, and "nuoc-mam" in Vietnam. It is a fermented product from fish (anchovies, herring, sardines) or shrimps.  It is rich in free amino acids, nucleotides and peptides as a result of proteolysis (breakdown of proteins), which give the characteristic fish sauce flavor.  Some of the free amino acids produced are lysine, proline, alanine, glycine, serine and glutamic acid.  Note that glutamic acid and the nucleotides are related to the "umami" taste in several foods.

Reference: Raksakulthai, N. and Haard, N. 1992. ASEAN Food Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2.
                   http://www.aseanfood.info/Articles/13000519.pdf