fish sauce sauce made from fish or shellfish, usually by salting and fermenting them either whole or else the parts that would otherwise be discarded, such as blood and innards. Some are made with fresh fish, others with ones that have been dried first; anchovies are included in most of the sauces. Fermentation takes place using the enzymes found in the animal products, releasing an abundance of free amino acids, especially alanine and glutamate. Garum made in ancient Greece and Rome is the oldest example of a fish sauce in Western cuisine, and a whole range of fish sauces are commonly used in Asian cuisine.
