primitives discuss a kitchen disaster

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/115746516

Oh my.

alfredo (50,357 posts)    Thu Oct 9, 2014, 04:54 PM

Kitchen disaster.

A jar of fish sauce fell over and the cap leaked. Of course it was on the top shelf. It took a bit to figure it out, but the odoriferous brown liquid under the crisper told the tale.
 
We just finished cleaning the refrigerator. So I was right, it wasn't my smelly cheeses.
 
When I pitched the sauce into the dumpster, the jar broke. I feel for people living near it.

I had to look it up, as I'd never heard of it.

Fish sauce is an amber-colored liquid extracted from the fermentation of fish with sea salt. It is used as a condiment in various cuisines. Fish sauce is a staple ingredient in numerous cultures in Southeast Asia and the coastal regions of East Asia, and featured heavily in Cambodian, the Philippines, Thai, Laotian and Vietnamese cuisine.
 
In addition to being added to dishes during the cooking process, fish sauce is also used as a base for a dipping condiment, prepared in many different ways in each country, for fish, shrimp, pork, and chicken. In parts of southern China, it is used as an ingredient for soups and casseroles. Fish sauce, and its derivatives, impart an umami flavor to food due to their glutamate content.

Warpy (79,019 posts)    Thu Oct 9, 2014, 05:04 PM

1. Phew!

I remember retrieving a metal kitchen cabinet out of a dumpster. It had been pitched when an apartment was cleaned out and had a lot of stuff spilled in it over the years but predominantly prune juice. I had a great time trying to get it out of all the pressed metal joins but I used that thing in successive bad kitchens for many years. I didn't get rid of it until one of the tack welds gave way and the shelf was kaput.
 
Fish sauce doesn't smell nearly as bad as fish emulsion for the garden. It's going to be fun watching cats around that dumpster, though, the entertainment making up for the stench.

Well, okay then.

If it stinks, why bother having it around?

alfredo (50,357 posts)    Thu Oct 9, 2014, 05:22 PM

2. It appears it got into the vents on the bottom. I guess it will be with us until it completely dries

and degrades.

Warpy (79,019 posts)    Thu Oct 9, 2014, 06:01 PM

3. It's already fermented

so there's not much for new bugs to feed on.

I have a feeling it'll be a faint smell you'll notice but no one else will for as long as you have the same kitchen.

The empressof all (28,003 posts)    Fri Oct 10, 2014, 11:54 AM

7. Wipe things down with Vinegar and water

Better to smell like a salad for a few hours than a dead fish for longer. Vinegar is a great odor remover. I will pour a little in a saucer and keep it near my stove when I am cooking something with a really strong smell. Its also great to clean your garbage cans with. When mine get a little funky and I don't have time right then to take care of it;leaving a bit of vinegar on a paper towel or cotton ball will freshen it up
 
You may need to get into those small crevices with a q-tip otherwise you will have lingering odor forever................
 
Yikes!

Paper Roses (5,187 posts)    Fri Oct 10, 2014, 12:25 PM

9. Question: Do you leave a dish of Vinegar out all the time?

I don't have a vent over my stove and cooking odors linger for hours even after I clean up everything. Will a dish of vinegar help the general food cooking smells when I get ambitious and cook something good but smelly?

The empressof all (28,003 posts)    Fri Oct 10, 2014, 01:47 PM

13. I don't leave it out all the time as I generally have good ventilation

In the summer I will leave a bit out in a saucer near fruit on the counter to collect fruit flies. They love apple cider vinegar. I don't see how you can be harmed in anyway by keeping a bit on your counter. Try it and see what happens.

cbayer (136,095 posts)    Fri Oct 10, 2014, 12:24 PM

8. I have had repeated problems with fish sauce.

For whatever reason (sadism?) they put them in jars with lids that do not close securely.

alfredo (50,357 posts)    Fri Oct 10, 2014, 01:06 PM

11. It's punishment for not using all of it right away.

cbayer (136,095 posts)    Fri Oct 10, 2014, 01:15 PM

12. Lol. I find a little bit goes a long way, and

a little bit in the bottom of the fridge lasts forever.

[Chris_]

DUmmies think dumpsters are great places to go shopping.  Go figure.

[Skul]

Nuoc mam???
Sheesh, what next?

[DumbAss Tanker]

The DUmmie who said it was common in SE Asian cooking was correct, most commonly encountered in the US in Vietnamese cuisine as the legendary nuoc mam (sp?) sauce ("Legendary" not necessarily in a good way).  Frankly it sounds disgusting, I have never tasted it and intend to never, ever taste it.

[Big Dog]

Nuoc mam???
Sheesh, what next?

That's what I was thinking, too.

[Big Dog]

The DUmmie who said it was common in SE Asian cooking was correct, most commonly encountered in the US in Vietnamese cuisine as the legendary nuoc mam (sp?) sauce ("Legendary" not necessarily in a good way).  Frankly it sounds disgusting, I have never tasted it and intend to never, ever taste it.

You couldn't pay me enough to have a bottle of that shit in my house.

[Delmar]

Paper Roses (5,187 posts)    Fri Oct 10, 2014, 12:25 PM

9. Question: Do you leave a dish of Vinegar out all the time?

I don't have a vent over my stove and cooking odors linger for hours even after I clean up everything. Will a dish of vinegar help the general food cooking smells when I get ambitious and cook something good but smelly?

Why don't you try fixing and eating normal American food and leave the stinky ethnic food to the foreigners.  But at the very least if you must eat that kind of crap, do it in the privacy of your own home--don't bring it to work.  I work with a DUmmy type person who is always bringing in some kind or another of weird stinky food that stinks the whole place up.

[thundley4]

Warpy (79,019 posts)    Thu Oct 9, 2014, 06:01 PM

3. It's already fermented

so there's not much for new bugs to feed on.

I have a feeling it'll be a faint smell you'll notice but no one else will for as long as you have the same kitchen.

Uh, that's not  how it works, DUmmie.  You get used to the smell and no longer can smell it, but visitors will find the stench overpowering.  That is if they can smell it over the general stench of a DUmmie dwelling.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Uh, that's not  how it works, DUmmie.  You get used to the smell and no longer can smell it, but visitors will find the stench overpowering.  That is if they can smell it over the general stench of a DUmmie dwelling.

I think it's a safe bet that nuoc mam would overpower anything except possibly a fire in a tire dump.

[diesel driver]

I think it's a safe bet that nuoc mam would overpower anything except possibly a fire in a tire dump.

Personally, I'd prefer the stench of burning tires to any odor originating from a DUmmie domicile.

[Skul]

Why don't you try fixing and eating normal American food and leave the stinky ethnic food to the foreigners.  But at the very least if you must eat that kind of crap, do it in the privacy of your own home--don't bring it to work.  I work with a DUmmy type person who is always bringing in some kind or another of weird stinky food that stinks the whole place up.

There's a reason stinky ethnic food is prepared in the open, or at least "aired" huts.

[Dori]

Uh, that's not  how it works, DUmmie.  You get used to the smell and no longer can smell it, but visitors will find the stench overpowering.  That is if they can smell it over the general stench of a DUmmie dwelling.

Ewwww.....what a combo.  Fermented fish and cat litter boxes.  I wonder if the police could use that combo to break up riots.

[I_B_Perky]

The DUmmie who said it was common in SE Asian cooking was correct, most commonly encountered in the US in Vietnamese cuisine as the legendary nuoc mam (sp?) sauce ("Legendary" not necessarily in a good way).  Frankly it sounds disgusting, I have never tasted it and intend to never, ever taste it.

Me too, DAT. Anything that stinks ain't going in my pie hole. 

[landofconfusion80]

where does fish sauce come from you ask?

[67 Rover]

where does fish sauce come from you ask?

Is it me or does that fish look pretty content. 

[VelvetElvis]

Is it me or does that fish look pretty content. 

That is what is known as the classic brown trout "O" face, if I'm not mistaken.

Just what do those folks think they're doing pleasuring that pisces?

[landofconfusion80]

That is what is known as the classic brown trout "O" face, if I'm not mistaken.

Just what do those folks think they're doing pleasuring that pisces?

Your fingers smell like fish afterwards anyways....

[VelvetElvis]

Your fingers smell like fish afterwards anyways....

A common after effect of fondling trouser trout.