Vegetarian Fish Sauce

Fish sauce is a large part of Vietnamese cooking. It is included in many Vietnamese recipes from a marinade to dipping sauce. Real fish sauce is made from fresh anchovies and salt, layered in huge wooden barrels for a few months. I am not here to share the recipe for making real fish sauce. I will leave that to the professionals and manufacturers with all the right equipment. They are normally located near by the coastline of Vietnam. However, for the vegetarian mock fish sauce which is very important for many recipes, I have many recipes that use this mock fish sauce. This is one of my favorites, and it is tasty and easy to prepare.  Here it is.

Ingredients:
One 64 oz. apple juice
2 oz. rock sugar
1/4 cup salt
1 tbs mushroom seasoning
1 tbs dark soy sauce for dark amber color

Directions:

Combine apple juice, rock sugar, salt, and the mushroom seasoning in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by half. Pour into a glass jar with lid, which can be refrigerated for months. This "fish sauce" is used for so many dipping sauces or salad recipes.