# Worcestershire, soy, fish sauce?



## giggler

Do y'all use this often for the Unammi effect?

I made a very nice Gumbo soup last night, but ran out of Worstershier, so I subbed Soy Sauce...

It came out really nice!

I also have fish sauce for Asian cooking..

What do y'all use, if any?

Thanks, Eric Austin Tx.


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## CraigC

We don't use them as subs, but yes we use them often. We like making worcestershire sauce using Emeril's recipe. It is sooooooo much better than the best commercial brands.


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## buckytom

I don't know about you mommy, but my mommy cooked with it a lot... 

Actually, I've been using soy sauce and fish sauce a lot recently, probably, at least once a week, in stir fries, soups, and dipping sauces. I'm starting to learn to differences between many different soy sauces; Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. There are so many brands of each it's astonishing.
Think of how many brands of ketchup or mayonnaise there are.
Multiply that by 1000 for soy sauce.


My wife despises Worcestershire sauce so I don't use it often. Occasionally hidden in a meat marinade if she's eating it. But My boy and I love it on steamed veggies and raw tomatoes. It was the only way my dad could get me to eat cooked peas, or cauliflower, lima beans, or carrots when I was a kid.

Do yourself a favor and slice up a nice, ripe tomato and douse it with Worcestershire sauce. We love it so much that we end up drinking the remaining sauce, seeds, and mucilage from the plate when the tomatoes are gone.

Craigsy, I'm going to look up Emeril's recipe. I never heard of anyone making their own. Thanks for the heads up.


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## CraigC

Just remember to let it age! If not you'll be cursing my name high and low.


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## buckytom

It's a fermented sauce, right?
I remember meeting a guy in a pub once who said he grew up near a Worcestershire plant in England. Supposedly, the area stank to high heaven while it aged.


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## CraigC

No, it gets canned and mellows with age. If you taste it right when its done, you won't like it. I'll tell you though, in his "BBQ" shrimp recipe, you can tell the difference between the homemade and commercial.


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## PrincessFiona60

Craig, do you have a link to Emeril's recipe or which cookbook it's in?  Thanks!

I use all three sauces frequently.  Grew up on soy sauce, it was used as a seasoning in most dishes made by my Mom, Dad spent a year in Korea and then 6 months in Okinawa, brought soy sauce home.


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## rodentraiser

I haven't used it yet, but I did find a tube of anchovy paste at Winco, of all places. I remember Chef John used it in a recipe I wanted to try. I just can't find the recipe now!


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## CraigC

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Craig, do you have a link to Emeril's recipe or which cookbook it's in?  Thanks!
> 
> I use all three sauces frequently.  Grew up on soy sauce, it was used as a seasoning in most dishes made by my Mom, Dad spent a year in Korea and then 6 months in Okinawa, brought soy sauce home.



It is in his "Louisiana Real and Rustic" book. I've never looked up a link. Beware of grating fresh horseradish!


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## PrincessFiona60

CraigC said:


> It is in his "Louisiana Real and Rustic" book. I've never looked up a link. Beware of grating fresh horseradish!


 
Thanks, I believe I have that cookbook, if not I soon will. I know about grating horseradish, Dad used to harvest some every year...sinus killer.  Could smell it for a week after.


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## medtran49

Emeril's Worcestershire Sauce Recipe : Emeril Lagasse : Food Network

We couldn't find the Steen's cane syrup locally, though you can probably order it, so we just used another brand that is carried locally.


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## PrincessFiona60

Thanks, Karen.  Lyle's Golden Syrup maybe?  It is a cane syrup.


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## medtran49

Yeah I think it was a golden something.  Been a while since we made any.


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## buckytom

CraigC said:


> It is in his "Louisiana Real and Rustic" book. I've never looked up a link. Beware of grating fresh horseradish!


 
Just as a side note, freshly grated horseradish and grated beets are a delicious side dish. My MIL served it at every holiday meal. It does clear your sinuses right out.

Before she showed me what a horseradish root looks like, I only knew that it came in little jars and was either simply grated or cream style. 


Hmm, I wonder what beets taste like with a splash of Worcestershire sauce?


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## CakePoet

Oki, Emrils, doesnt even look like real deal when it comes to Worcestershire sauce, we only use the original Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce.

I guess people know how to pronounce it.

In this home  we have  Chinese  mushroom soy,  two type Japanese Soy, Kikoman soy and no fish sauce but also  HP sauce, Hoisin sauce and   malt vinegar.


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## CraigC

CakePoet said:


> Oki, Emrils, doesnt even look like real deal when it comes to Worcestershire sauce, we only use the original Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce.
> 
> I guess people know how to pronounce it.
> 
> In this home  we have  Chinese  mushroom soy,  two type Japanese Soy, Kikoman soy and no fish sauce but also  HP sauce, Hoisin sauce and   malt vinegar.



What is the real deal? You do know that L&P was created in an attempt to recreate a sauce from one of England's colonies during their imperialism?


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## CharlieD

giggler said:


> Do y'all use this often for the Umami effect?
> 
> I made a very nice Gumbo soup last night, but ran out of Worcestershire, so I subbed Soy Sauce...
> 
> It came out really nice!
> 
> I also have fish sauce for Asian cooking..
> 
> What do y'all use, if any?
> 
> Thanks, Eric Austin Tx.



I recommend Fish sauce as the substitute, as both of them have fish in them, but not soy sauce.


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## GotGarlic

I use all of them, depending on what I'm making. They definitely add a needed flavor.


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## CakePoet

CraigC: Worchestershire sauce  was  made by chemists John Wheeley Lea and William Perrins (Mr Lea and Mr Perrins), hence I see this as the original and  since  this company holds the oldest recipe, since it was those who made it , I see the rest as  copies.


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## medtran49

CakePoet said:


> CraigC: Worchestershire sauce was made by chemists John Wheeley Lea and William Perrins (Mr Lea and Mr Perrins), hence I see this as the original and since this company holds the oldest recipe, since it was those who made it , I see the rest as copies.


 
Obviously they weren't the first to make it according to Lea and Perrins themselves.

About us Lea & Perrins ®

_"... Returning home from his travels in Bengal, Lord Sandys, a nobleman of the area, was eager to *duplicate a recipe* he'd acquired. On Lord Sandys' request, two chemists—John Lea and William Perrins—made up the first batch of the sauce..."_

And, if you look at the ingredient list, quite a few of them are the same and/or very similar.  Interesting also that they give 3 different "correct" pronunciations of worcestershire.  

I've always liked the commercially made brands of worcestershire but I have to say that I much prefer the Emeril's.  When doing a side by side taste test, it seems to be smoother and doesn't have as much of the harshness/sharpness/whatever that I taste in the commericial brands.  I'd use it exclusively if it wasn't such a job to make it and can it.


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## CakePoet

How funny, check this out.

Heinz | Our History

The Uk and  Americans site isnt the same. 

Anyway we leave it as this, I prefer the flavour  perrins and you like Emeril sauce.


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## GotGarlic

CakePoet said:


> How funny, check this out.
> 
> Heinz | Our History
> 
> The Uk and  Americans site isnt the same.
> 
> Anyway we leave it as this, I prefer the flavour  perrins and you like Emeril sauce.



The wording isn't the same, but the meaning is. Do you not see it? From your source:

"Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce was first created by the Worcester chemists John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins. They devised the recipe in the 1830's when Lord Sandys - a nobleman of the area - was *eager to recreate an exciting taste* he had acquired on his travels to Bengal."

And from medtran's source:

About us Lea & Perrins ®

_"... Returning home from his travels in Bengal, Lord Sandys, a nobleman of the area, was eager to *duplicate a recipe* he'd acquired. On Lord Sandys' request, two chemists—John Lea and William Perrins—made up the first batch of the sauce..."_


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## medtran49

CakePoet said:


> How funny, check this out.
> 
> Heinz | Our History
> 
> The Uk and Americans site isnt the same.
> 
> Anyway we leave it as this, I *prefer the flavour* perrins and you like Emeril sauce.


 
If you've never had Emeril's sauce, how can you say you prefer L&P over it?


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## CakePoet

Oki, Lets agree  Lea perrin is fake , a  copy and bad? Happy?


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## RPCookin

I like L&P Worcestershire.  I can't say I prefer it over Emeril's as I've never had his, and likely never will.  

I was a bit less fond of my wife when she bought the store brand junk.  I can't tell her she made a mistake without a heated "discussion", so I just poured most of it down the drain to use it up, and I made sure that I was the one who bought it from then on.


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## Dawgluver

L&P is the standard here too.  Will need to look up Emeril's.


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## Zagut

Lea & Perrins is the gold standard here.

Emeril's sauce looks tasty too. 

I'll give it a try someday.

Seems someone way back when was looking for a sauce.

Lea & Perrins came up with a sauce that was named Worcestershire Sauce.

I like that stuff. 

No matter what you name it as long as you like it then it's all good.


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## GotGarlic

CakePoet said:


> Oki, Lets agree  Lea perrin is fake , a  copy and bad? Happy?



Take it easy, CakePoet. No one says it's a fake or bad. Just that Lea and Perrins reproduced something that already existed  

I actually have French's Worcestershire sauce in my fridge right now. If I don't specify a brand when DH goes shopping, he gets whatever is on sale  And, to be honest, since we don't use it straight, I don't notice a difference in the flavor. 

Funny story: Soon after DH and I first moved in together, he decided to surprise me with a beef roast he had marinated in straight Worcestershire sauce. It's was, unfortunately, inedible. An expensive lesson for a young couple


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## buckytom

My family went out to a great little dive restaurant with a friend's family recently for their mom's birthday.

Everyone ordered steaks, and when they were served, my buddy asked for their special steak sauce, which ended up being L&P Worcestershire sauce. Their whole family proceeded to drown their steaks in it. Yuk.

I asked for a common type of steak sauce, like A1 or HP, to show them the difference, but the waitress just  looked at me like I was from another planet. Apparently, all of the regular customers there use L&P Worcestershire as steak sauce.  

It wasn't terrible on a cheap steak, but a little goes a long way. They were using it like au jus for dipping.


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## CakePoet

No lea Perrins  didnt do something that did exist, they tried and failed and shoved  the barrel in the  corner and for got about it.  So  it never became what it was supposed to be, it be came something else. Hence the sauce was born.

Like William Henry Perkin,  he failed and made  the first aniline dye instead of a cure for Malaria.


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## medtran49

About us Lea & Perrins ®

"....Lea and Perrins were not impressed with their initial results. The pair found the taste unpalatable, and simply left the jars in their cellar to gather dust. *A few years later, they stumbled across them and decided to taste the contents again*. To their delight, the aging process had turned it into a delicious, savory sauce..."


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## jennyema

buckytom said:


> My family went out to a great little dive restaurant with a friend's family recently for their mom's birthday.
> 
> Everyone ordered steaks, and when they were served, my buddy asked for their special steak sauce, which ended up being L&P Worcestershire sauce. Their whole family proceeded to drown their steaks in it. Yuk.
> 
> I asked for a common type of steak sauce, like A1 or HP, to show them the difference, but the waitress just  looked at me like I was from another planet. Apparently, all of the regular customers there use L&P Worcestershire as steak sauce.
> 
> It wasn't terrible on a cheap steak, but a little goes a long way. They were using it like au jus for dipping.




Yuk is right!!


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## CWS4322

I use all three. I also like to keep tamari and anchovy paste on hand.


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## erehweslefox

buckytom said:


> Just as a side note, freshly grated horseradish and grated beets are a delicious side dish. My MIL served it at every holiday meal. It does clear your sinuses right out.
> 
> Before she showed me what a horseradish root looks like, I only knew that it came in little jars and was either simply grated or cream style.
> 
> 
> Hmm, I wonder what beets taste like with a splash of Worcestershire sauce?



Quite good, I actually smoke my beets in a stovetop smoker, makes for a lovely salad. I will try them with horseradish.

TBS


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## Mad Cook

buckytom said:


> I don't know about you mommy, but my mommy cooked with it a lot...
> 
> Actually, I've been using soy sauce and fish sauce a lot recently, probably, at least once a week, in stir fries, soups, and dipping sauces. I'm starting to learn to differences between many different soy sauces; Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. There are so many brands of each it's astonishing.
> Think of how many brands of ketchup or mayonnaise there are.
> Multiply that by 1000 for soy sauce.
> 
> 
> My wife despises Worcestershire sauce so I don't use it often. Occasionally hidden in a meat marinade if she's eating it. But My boy and I love it on steamed veggies and raw tomatoes. It was the only way my dad could get me to eat cooked peas, or cauliflower, lima beans, or carrots when I was a kid.
> 
> Do yourself a favor and slice up a nice, ripe tomato and douse it with Worcestershire sauce. We love it so much that we end up drinking the remaining sauce, seeds, and mucilage from the plate when the tomatoes are gone.
> 
> Craigsy, I'm going to look up Emeril's recipe. I never heard of anyone making their own. Thanks for the heads up.


It's good in Welsh rarebit. For the uninitiated that's a glorified cheese on toast. I'm not patronising anyone - I just don't know whether it has that name where you are.)

Incidentally, you may have heard the legend. The original makers of W. Sauce made it, thought it was disgusting and stashed it in the cellar for a l-o-n-g time (I have no idea why!). They found it a long time afterwards. It tasted wondeful (or not, according to your taste) and made a fortune from it.  (http://www.heinz.com/data/pdf/LeaPerrinsTimeline.pdf). Belongs to Heinz now.

True or not, Messrs Lea & Perrins W. Sauce is by far the best - accept no other. Incidentally, it isn't vegetarian friendly as it contains anchovies


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## GotGarlic

Mad Cook said:


> It's good in Welsh rarebit. For the uninitiated that's a glorified cheese on toast. I'm not patronising anyone - I just don't know whether it has that name where you are.)
> 
> Incidentally, you may have heard the legend. The original makers of W. Sauce made it, thought it was disgusting and stashed it in the cellar for a l-o-n-g time (I have no idea why!). They found it a long time afterwards. It tasted wondeful (or not, according to your taste) and made a fortune from it.  (http://www.heinz.com/data/pdf/LeaPerrinsTimeline.pdf). Belongs to Heinz now.
> 
> True or not, Messrs Lea & Perrins W. Sauce is by far the best - accept no other. Incidentally, it isn't vegetarian friendly as it contains anchovies



We discussed the "legend" above. They put it away because they didn't like it, came upon it accidentally a few years later, and tasted it again. Aging had improved the flavor.


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## Mad Cook

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Thanks, I believe I have that cookbook, if not I soon will. I know about grating horseradish, Dad used to harvest some every year...sinus killer.  Could smell it for a week after.


I tried to grow some years ago but it didn't take. In view of what i now know I think I'm rather glad!


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