Bobby Flay Likes This Underrated Sauce, And You Should Use It In Your Next Bowl Of Tomato Soup

Some chefs have little tricks up their sleeves, like always adding a splash of acid to round out a dish or a sprinkling of a fancy salt to finish with flair. While Bobby Flay uses anchovies as a secret ingredient in almost everything, the famed chef also believes fish sauce, which has a strikingly similar taste to anchovies, is a totally underrated ingredient — and we agree. In fact, we recommend adding a splash of it to your next batch of tomato soup for a salty, savory boost.

So what exactly is fish sauce? The name is plain but accurate, as fish sauce is made from excess liquid that's drawn out of salted and fermented small fish, most commonly anchovies. Wildly popular in Southeast Asian cuisine, fish sauce is not limited to just fish-related dishes, but rather incorporated almost anywhere that needs a jolt of flavor.

While adding a fish-based product to tomato soup may seem like a strange idea, fish and tomatoes pair beautifully together in subtle ways. It's a common trick to melt an anchovy fillet or two into a marinara sauce for a bit more salty and umami-forward notes without ever tasting "fishy." Sometimes tomato soup can taste a little flat or one-note, so in the same way that you'd add a salty, umami-packed ingredient like parmesan to the soup, a tiny splash of fish sauce will bring out both sweet and savory notes of tomato soup.

Given that fish sauce is the secret ingredient for richer flavor in French onion soup, it should come as no surprise that a sprinkling of fish sauce can help boost the flavor of your tomato soup. The process behind fish sauce may have some anchovy-averse people running for the hills, but it is not unlike soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce in the sense that it's a very salty and fermented liquid that adds umami and depth of flavor to any dish. Some people might be hesitant to start incorporating fish sauce into their food, thinking it may cause things to taste overly fishy or otherwise overwhelming. But fish sauce is nothing to be afraid of, and the beauty of the fermented condiment is that sometimes you only need a few drops to upgrade a dish, so using it in moderation is key.

Marinades are another fantastic application for fish sauce, like marinating your steak in nuoc cham or making Vietnamese-inspired lemongrass chicken thighs. Even sweet dessert foods can benefit from a dash of the funky sauce, especially when you think of foods that benefit from a sweet-and-salty contrast, like a fish sauce caramel instead of a regular salted caramel. Check out our most creative ways to use fish sauce for ways to incorporate the ingredient beyond tomato soup.