Thai fish sauce - moved from Home Cooking board

[Lemon Tart]

I'm doing the environmentally responsible thing and turning off my second fridge. Question: does Thai fish sauce have to be refridgerated after opening? Would love to hear. Thanks.

[aravenel]

Don't think any bacteria wants a piece of that action; you're fine. Besides, like others have said, it's already fermented, so it's shelf stable.

[Lemon Tart]

Mine is "Lucky Fish Sauce" and the container doesn't say anything about refridgeration. I think I'll leave it in the pantry. Many thanks for your help, Hotoynoodle and Joan N!

[JoanN]

I have two different brands of fish sauce in my apartment right now. The Three Crabs brand label says "Refrigerated [sic] after opening." The Tiparos brand label says "Do not store product under refrigeration. Salt crystals may form in cold conditions." Nonetheless, I think most agree that refrigeration is unnecessary, especially if you use it regularly. I bought the Tiparos brand, which says not to refrigerate, about four months ago in a high-traffic Asian market and the bottle is marked "Best before December 2010." I'd assume from that that most fish sauces would be okay on a pantry shelf for about two years.

[hotoynoodle]

good for you and your smaller footprint.

fish sauce is already fermented, so shelf stable. those types of sauces are ancient in culinary history for exactly that reason.