Yesterday we went to purchase a bottle of Thai Fish Sauce in our local Asian shop and my wife, who is getting sharper with this sort of thing, noticed the date on it was 04/02/2013. So she decided not to buy it as it was out of date. However three letters preceding that date are "MFG" which indicates a manufacturing date rather than a sell by date. If so there was no sell by date on the bottle. Given that one has to be careful with fish, I wonder if we did the right thing or just being naive on fish sauce. The wife uses it a lot when cooking. And there is so few places to buy it from here.
Older fish sauce it will go a darker brown colour a few months after opening and then it is not so good. If the fish sauce is clear and whisky coloured then it should be OK, if it looks like old coffee then avoid, one year after manufacture seems OK. Is the wife cooking Thai food?
It ought to be OK; the Romans used a lot of it, which they called "garum" and shipped it around the Empire in amphorae. Must have taken months on the journey and been stored for years.
No. She cooks Filipino food but the only brand of Fish sauce available here at the moment is a Thai brand.
From fresh it looks like it lasts about 2 to 3 years, I believe it is acidic so it will tend to last.
Thanks for the advice on the Fish Sauce. We bought some today. Manufacturers date 3/11/2013. Made in Thailand. Tiparos brand.
