Shottsuru substitute

Substitutes for Shottsuru with ratios

1. 2Colatura di alici, Italian anchovy sauce

   Close match

   Use the same amount

   The Amalfi sauce made by pressing salted anchovies, sold in small bottles at Italian delis.

   What changes

   It is essentially the same category of product as shottsuru.

   Best for

   shottsuru nabe, simmered dishes, finishing seasoning, dressings

   Genuinely the best match on this list: clean, salty, not remotely sweet, and pale rather than dark. The one difference is a slightly more pronounced anchovy note, which reads as depth rather than as a mistake. It is expensive, so use it where the seasoning is the point and use diluted fish sauce for bulk cooking.

2. 3Ishiru or any other Japanese gyosho

   Close match

   Use the same amount

   If your Japanese grocer stocks ishiru from Ishikawa, or any bottle labelled gyosho, use it spoon for spoon.

   What changes

   Best for

   shottsuru nabe, regional Japanese dishes, hot pot, simmered vegetables

   This is a sideways move rather than a compromise. Ishiru is usually squid-based, which makes it a little rounder and faintly sweeter than sandfish shottsuru, but it goes into the same dishes in the same amounts. No adjustment needed beyond tasting the broth before you salt it.

3. 4Light usukuchi soy sauce + dashi

   Different taste

   Use 2 teaspoons usukuchi soy sauce + 1 teaspoon dashi or water for every 1 tablespoon shottsuru

   Usukuchi is saltier and paler than regular koikuchi soy sauce, which makes it the right choice when a broth needs to stay light in color.

   What changes

   Best for

   shottsuru nabe, clear soups, simmered dishes, cooks with no fish sauce

   The salt and the pale color come out right, but the umami is soy-derived, so the broth tastes distinctly beanier and less of the sea. Drop a 2-inch strip of kombu into the pot, or a small pinch of bonito flakes, and it moves a long way back toward shottsuru. Regular dark soy sauce works too, but it will turn the broth brown.

4. 5Mashed anchovy fillet + water

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 1 oil-packed anchovy fillet mashed with 2 teaspoons water for every 1 tablespoon shottsuru

   Mash the fillet to a paste and let it dissolve into the hot broth.

   What changes

   A pantry answer when you have neither fish sauce nor a Japanese grocer nearby.

   Best for

   hot pot broths, simmered dishes, braises

   Fine in anything with liquid, poor in a dipping sauce where you would see and feel the specks. Flavor-wise it is oilier and more assertively anchovy than shottsuru and slightly less salty, so taste and add a pinch of salt. Strain the broth if you want it clear.

5. 6Dashi + salt + a splash of soy sauce

   Different taste

   Use 1 tablespoon dashi + ¼ teaspoon salt + ½ teaspoon soy sauce for every 1 tablespoon shottsuru

   For anyone avoiding fermented fish products entirely, or cooking for someone who dislikes fish sauce.

   What changes

   Best for

   clear soups, simmered vegetables, milder palates

   This is the honest least-bad option. You get savory, salty and marine, and you do not get the long fermented backbone that gives shottsuru its depth, so the broth tastes flatter and shorter on the finish. Simmering a dried shiitake or an extra piece of kombu in the pot for 20 minutes helps considerably.