In particular, Sunday lunch was always a very special meal. My mum would get up at an ungodly hour to put a slow-cooked soup, made with pork bones and mysterious dried herbs, on the boil. My dad was in charge of the roast. Not beef or lamb, but a slab of pork belly or maybe a whole duck roasted in the traditional Cantonese way. Sometimes, there would be a steamed fish, other times, some stir-fried seafood. And then there were vegetables, which my mum would ALWAYS make me eat. I didn't properly appreciate it when I was younger, but I am forever grateful to my parents for instilling in me a deep love of my native cuisine.
So you can imagine my shock and horror when I discovered my folks have never ever used fish sauce when cooking. This revelation got me thinking what other liberties they were taking in the kitchen? After all, according to no less an authority than Gok Wan, fish sauce is a Chinese store cupboard staple. And it must be true because this rather special TV chef would liberally slap shedloads of crappy Squid Brand fish sauce into most of the dishes he rustled up on his
I am, of course, taking the piss. Don't get me wrong, I like fish sauce. Without it, Thai and Vietnamese food wouldn't be the same. However, when it comes to Chinese food, fish sauce isn't really that common. In fact, it is traditionally only used and manufactured in a small corner of southeast China by the local Chiu Chow (Teochew) and Hokkien communities. Even then I'm not so sure how common it is as a Chinese condiment, as the shelves of the shops I visited in London's Chinatown were full of fish sauce from Thailand or Vietnam with nary a bottle of Chinese-branded fish sauce to be seen.
So why is Gok Wan perpetuating the lie that fish sauce is essential for Chinese cooking? My theory is that fish sauce is being used as a shortcut to gain that elusive xian (鮮) or umami taste. The alternatives would be either to do it the old fashioned way, or to use the much-maligned MSG. (I don't really want to go into the MSG debate right now, but scientific evidence debunks the mass of hypocritical borderline-racist bullshit written about this subject.)
Just to be clear, I'm not saying fish sauce shouldn't be used in Chinese food outside of those traditional Chiu Chow/Hokkien dishes in which it already features. What I resent is that, along with a load of other misconceptions, fish sauce is portrayed as a traditional Chinese staple on Gok Cooks Chinese. It would have been more honest if Gok said that he was using fish sauce to give the recipe a twist, or as a bit of cheat. But no, he gave birth to a lie. It's one I want to stamp out.
MSG is perfectly safe; or at least as safe as salt is. But there are people who are sensitive to it (they're a subset of the people who *think* they are). They end up being sensitive to foods with natural MSG content as well, tomatoes are a real problem there.
ReplyDeleteI agree about MSG and even me, with my very rudimentary knowledge of Chinese cooking, found it odd how Gok added fish sauce to everything. Not to mention that all his dishes must taste the same given that he used the same combinaton from his trusty basket, whatever he called it, I've forgotten now.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Kavey - I do think he uses a lot of the same ingredients in a lot of dishes - so they must all taste similar.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that I rarely use fish sauce in my Chinese cooking and was surprised by his liberal use. I mean I literally get through litres of the stuff in my Thai/Malay endeavours.
And in regards to MSG - 2 things. I own a bottle, and in moderation it's a useful little store cupboard addition. 2nd thing is what I read in Heston's at Home cook book - MSG is a natural ingredient in a lot of food - and those crystalline bits in a really good parmesan - SOLID MSG.
However - what I will stand by on Gok is that at least he isn't doing bloody sweet and sour and lemon chicken. Ok he's no Bite of China (although you can't learn to cook anything from that show - it is very educational however) - but at least he is making 'fairly' traditional non-takeaway chinese more popular. Maybe he's like ping pong - where in fact it is less than average. But ping-pong is a great gateway drug to the real deal. I hope people look at what Gok is cooking and think it looks a hell of a lot better than what 'Happy Dragon' churns out down the road. Then hopefully they look, research and find out more - and become more enlightened. Hopefully they'll find Fuchsia Dunlop. Without her I would not nearly be as interested or informed about Chinese food.
Chz - I might have to do a separate post on MSG!
ReplyDeleteKavey - Very true. I can't be sure but I don't remember his trusty basket having any 5-spice in it. That's a helluva lot more Chinese than fish sauce.
Frank - there's nothing wrong with proper sweet & sour or a well-made lemon chicken! I'd rather eat those dishes than the hotch-potch that Gok knocked up.
I take your point, but rather than having a dumbed-down stepping stone, wouldn't it have been better to have it done properly in the first place? I felt that Gok Cooks Chinese was a massive missed opportunity, as some of the techniques he used could've been deployed in better recipes than the ones he cooked.
I whole heartedly agree that it should (in an ideal world) have been a better stepping stone. But the resounding success that it was with the public, shows that he must have hit the nail on the head. And sometimes a shit stepping stone is better than none at all. I bet - because of Gok, you'll get a few more readers of this blog.
DeleteI think it is easy to frown at what he's done, because it wasn't authentic, but I bet half the stuff in Jamie Oliver's first Italian book wasn't that authentic. The dish title might have been but the ingredients would have probably given some Italians a heart attack. It's about what can you compromise to make it good, but still accessible.
Well my point with Gok's Chinese is, had it perhaps been more 'Chinese' and less 'Gok' it would have been too much for Joe Average.
TBH - I'd have loved to see Mr. Noodles up there telling the nation about it all. It would be a lot more authentic than Gok - I'm sure. I've learnt enough from this blog - imagine if it had a TV series ;-) And perhaps we'd have DTF in London already eh?
Frank - Thank you for the kind words, but I'm don't think I'm cut out for TV!
DeleteI think you're doing Joe Average a disservice. For instance, I'm not sure that recipes made with authentic ingredients in the proper way would have been any more or less challenging than what Gok Wan cooked. In fact, I find it hard to describe much of the food cooked by GW, as it was neither authentic nor westernised. It was a kind of Asian fusion, as characterised by the use of fish sauce, of which I had never really come across before. I also suspect some of the left field creations were not family favourites, but were created by non-Chinese chefs.
Nevertheless, I take your point that a small stepping stone is better than no stepping stone. And I'm really hoping that the upcoming BBC show with Ken Hom and Ching He-Huang will better showcase Chinese food.
I'm clueless at authentic Chinese cuisine, really dumb. In my naivety I assumed fish sauce was a more Vietnamese condiment.
ReplyDeleteTo defend Gok - and I admit I never saw the show - he grew up helping in his father's successful Chinese restaurant so surely he's only parroting techniques that worked ('sold') really well there?
bigspud - welcome! Er, fish sauce is a more Vietnamese condiment. That's the point I was getting across in the blog.
DeleteTo be honest, you really need to watch Gok Wan's show to see what he was cooking. Many of the dishes were not those that would have been available in his father's restaurant. In fact the traditional dishes that his father cooked on the show were the ones that worked well. Otherwise, the strange concoctions that were on show didn't work imho.
If you feel so strongly about fish sauce (which I don't really know much about) what are your views on his catchphrase "Wok on!"
ReplyDeleteAnnoyed the hell out of me.
Danny - what can I say? It annoyed the hell out of me, too. As did the smashing of fortune cookies to reveal the name of the dish. As did the clichéd use of 'smash-gong' Chinese music. As did the pathetic 'Carry On' innuendo. As did the trimming of fat off pork belly. And yes, as did the incessant use of fish sauce!
Delete*smashes fist on tabletop*
I really wish he would wok off, not wok on!
Just when I thought it'll be safe to venture out into the world again and here come the reminder of that horrible program (which I have yet to watch completely probably cause I could never get past the first 5 minutes!!)
ReplyDeleteIts full of cliché, and gauging from the constant update on my twitter feeds, its full of so-called "Authentic Chinese" cooking. You are right about fish sauce being use in Teochew and Hokkien cuisine, which is why it appears on some Singaporean food but rarely, very rarely on pure Chinese cooking.
I need to stop now cause I can sense my blood pressure rising thinking about this topic.
Good post by the way!
I quite enjoyed Ken Hom and Ching He-Huang - again as an educational show.
ReplyDeleteNot sure where I'm going to get cucumber flowers from!
Phew, I'm quite glad i didn't watch the show. It sounds a bit like using spagetti instead of noodles in a noodle soup. Just not right. I think the thing that really bugs me is the not necessarily the use of the fish sauce (we all use short cuts and hacks in our cooking, well, I do for sure) but the lack of transparency around this. It woud be fine if he said, "this isn't what you'd di in China, but it works here". But he didn't, and in not doing that, misrepresents Chinese cooking. Shame.
ReplyDeleteJ - looking back, I was probably responsible for at least 50% of the tweets that gave you high blood pressure.
ReplyDeleteFrank - heard good things about it, and can't wait to watch (it's on my Sky+)
Gworm - I know it wasn't really that kind of show, but Gok could have done a featurette on why he uses fish sauce. Instead he names it as one of his must-have ingredients in his 'basket', while proper essentials such as 5-spice powder were omitted. *angry face returning again*
I am not British therefore no idea who this Gok person is. Where was he born? AND when? Old or Young?
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Malaysia of a Chinese family. Me too never heard/seen fish-sauce in the kitchen while growing up!. I left Malaysia in early 70s. I did not hear about fish-sauce until Thai food became famous outside of Thailand/Malaysia/SE Asia.
hoong - welcome! Gok Wan is a British TV celeb. He's born in Britain but his father is from Hong Kong, and I'd say he's in his 30s. He is better known for his fashion shows, with 'Gok Cooks Chinese' being his first cooking show. This whole fish sauce thing is weird, as it is much more synonymous with Viet/Thai food.
DeleteAfter being so careful not to name names a couple of weeks ago, with your post on Bite of China, you've finally decided to get your rant on! And I've enjoyed the comments as much as the post!
ReplyDeleteVicky - it's good to have a rant every now and then!
ReplyDeleteI'm so pleased I came across your blog and I agree wholeheartedly! Gok's show (I've only ever managed to watch one episode - I can't bear to watch any more) annoys me. Firstly, I hate all the stereotypical imagery, the 3 gods, the fortune cookies and the annoying cliche music. Secondly YES TO THE FISH SAUCE! So many Chinese-Western style TV shows seem to use it and for a while I genuinely wondered why on earth we didn't have any in our kitchen. Until, it struck me that it's because it's simply doesn't have a place in traditional Cantonese cooking. Exploring China on the other hand is great, I've been watching it every week and thankfully, has none of the gimmicks that Channel 4 like to use. It reminds me of when Anthony Bourdain visited HK and his team actually did pretty good research and went to some properly local places...
ReplyDeleteWinnie - thanks! Exploring China is miles better than Gok, but have you seen 'A Bite of China' - it's a Chinese production? I've linked to it on a post in June, and there's episodes on YouTube. It is in Mandarin, but a few of the episodes have English subtitles.
DeleteJust to contribute my two cents' worth - fish sauce is used in Hokkien/Teochew cooking, but this is because there are large overseas communities of Hokkiens and Teochews in countries like Vietnam, Philippines and especially Thailand, so rather like Worcestershire sauce (which is called "hong mou see yau" or Western soy sauce) it is something that was imported back to China from abroad through the Overseas Chinese link. In Chinese it is called 鱼露 (yu lu)and I remember buying bottles of it (produced in Hong Kong) when I first came to Britain in the 60s. The Chinese version has largely vanished because of competition from superior products from Thailand and Vietnam, which is why one hardly encounters it nowadays.
ReplyDeleteThat Gok Wan show was an absolute disgrace, though unlike the appalling Ken Hom and Ching-He Huang he doesn't claim any expertise. Why can't people just do it properly?
ReplyDeletelondonchinese - thank you for the cultural insight as to the use of fish sauce in Chinese cuisine. BTW, I also know Worcestershire sauce as 'gip zap'.
ReplyDeleteAnon - it's hard line you're taking and whilst I understand where you're coming from, Exploring China wasn't THAT bad.
Hello Mr Noodles,
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog and I am from Singapore belonging to the Hokkien community. I was surprised when you mentioned that fish sauce is used by the Hokkien community. My late great-grandparents immigrated in the early 1920s to Singapore from Fujian Anxi region where Minan or Hokkien is spoken. To the best of my knowledge, no Hokkien family in Singapore ever uses fish sauce in any authentic Hokkien dish. Neither do the Taiwanese Hokkien community uses it in Taiwan. The largest Chinese dialect community in Singapore is Hokkien, then Teochew. But I have yet to eat a Hokkien dish with fish sauce in it. Neither is there a Teochew dish in Singapore with fish sauce in it.
TT
TT - thanks for your insight. My comments on the use of fish sauce in Hokkien/Teochew cuisine is from the web, and not first-hand. However, as LondonChinese points out in a comment above, perhaps the use of fish sauce in those cuisines stems from exposure to SE Asia. To be honest, my comments on the use of fish sauce stem from trying to give Gok Wan the benefit of the doubt (believe it or not) on the use of this condiment in Chinese cuisine.
Delete