Some sauces whisper, others sing. The sauces of coastal Asia? They slap you across the palate, steal your heart and leave a little funk on your fingers. Once you let them into your kitchen, there’s no going back.
We’re not talking about supermarket soy and sesame combos. We’re talking deep-fermented fish sauce that brings whispers of the ocean’s secrets. Chilli jams that sizzle with heat and have an underlying roasted depth. XO sauce that tastes like it was made in a smoky backroom from an underground umami speakeasy.
Bold, sexy and undeniably tasty.
These are the flavours that fuel night markets, fishing villages and hawker stalls. Luckily, they’re about to become your new secret weapon.
Fish Sauce (Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia)
The funk that built a continent.
Fish sauce is the backbone of Southeast Asian cooking. It’s salty, briny and mysterious. A result of fermenting anchovies and salt, aged to perfection until it becomes the essence of umami.
Let’s get real on this, fish sauce is not a one-size-fits-all. With variations as broad as the Southeast Asian isles, no two sauces are the same.
- Vietnamese nuoc mam is a cleaner, lighter sauce that brings
an elegant spark.
- Thai nam pla brings swagger with its salty and sharp flavour.
- Filipino patis may be more on the mild side, but it is mind-blowingly complex.
- Indonesian terasi introduces a whole new dimension of flavour with shrimp paste.
Why you need it: a simple teaspoon can unlock flavour in everything from stir-fries to tomato sauces, right through to steak marinades. Be bold, add it to butter, vinaigrettes and even Bloody Marys (yes, really).
Power move: blend fish sauce with lime juice, sugar, garlic and chilli for the Vietnamese holy grail: nuoc cham.
XO Sauce (Hong Kong, Coastal China)
Luxury in a jar and fire on a spoon.
Imagine dried scallops, shrimp, Jinhua ham, garlic and chilli, all slow-fried in oil until they become this unholy union of crisp, smoky, spicy and savoury magic. That’s XO sauce. Born in the 80s Hong Kong, named after high-end cognac (for vibes, not content) and built for utter indulgence.
Why you need it: If you want to turn humble ingredients like noodles into the main event, or eggs into pure decadence and take leftover rice from a bowl relegated to the back of the fridge to something you’d pay $22 for at a pop-up in Fitzroy, XO is for you.
Power move: Melt XO into butter and drown grilled lobster or prawns in it. Add lime and watch guests fall in love with you.
Nam Prik Pao (Thailand)
Roasted. Rich. Ready for anything.
Thailand’s smoky, jammy chilli paste is made with dried chillies, roasted garlic, shallots, shrimp paste, tamarind and palm sugar. If barbeque sauce and chilli oil took a sabbatical in Bangkok, this would be it. Spicy, sweet and savoury.
Why you need it: Hyper-versatile, this base brings depth to soups or adds punch to stir-fries. It lives outside of the norm, adding serious heat to sandwiches as a spread. Add a spoonful to hot oil and you’ve got yourself a base that will amplify the flavours of pretty much any dish.
Power move: Mix with coconut cream and brush over fish or chicken before grilling. Finish with fresh lime and torn Thai basil. Absolute chaos, but in the best possible way.
Sambal (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore)
Infinite fire.
To sambal devotees, it is not a sauce. It’s a universe. At its core are chillies, but from there it spins off into endless variations.
- Sambal oelek: raw, pure chilli paste.
- Sambal terasi: with fermented shrimp paste.
- Sambal matah: Balinese raw sambal with lemongrass, shallots and citrus.
- Sambal ijo: green chilli sambal from West Sumatra that slaps with verdant,
herbaceous heat.
Why you need it: It’s the heat and the flavour. Throw it on eggs, stir it into noodles, brush it under grilled fish, or simply spoon it over rice with a fried egg and call it dinner. It works harder than most and will never disappoint.
Power move: Add it to mayo, Greek yoghurt or labneh for an instant spicy dip with character. Serve it with grilled prawns or fried chicken and thank us later.
Bagoong (Phillippines)
The funk that bites back.
Unapologetically bold, it’s not trying to win everyone over. Fermented fish or shrimp paste isn’t for everyone and that's exactly the point. For those who get it though, it’s addictive. Used in iconic Filipino dishes like binagoongan (pork braised in shrimp paste) or eaten raw with sour green mango, bagoong is pure depth. Salty, pungent and beautifully intense.
Why you need it: It adds a bass note to braises, stews, grilled vegetables and even as a compound butter. Much like Vegemite, you’ll want to use it sparingly – it’s a weapon, not a condiment.
Power move: Make bagoong fried rice with garlic, leftover rice (day-old is best) and scrambled egg. Top with grilled prawns or crispy pork. Game over.
Sauces of Coastal Asia are more than condiments. They’re generations of love and stories passed down amongst families, each with their own unique take. They’re complex, confident and totally cookable once you know how to wield them.
Forget bottled teriyaki and 'Asian fusion' glazes, this is the real stuff. Funk-forward, fire-laced, fermented and fearless.
The secret to great cooking is not in the recipe, but in the sauce.
