Fish Sauce Near Oak Park?

Hi folks,

I am in need of some fish sauce for tonight. Caveats are: I live in Austin, basically Oak Park, I cannot get excited about a drive to Argyle, and I need to buy gluten free. I usually have Squid brand in the fridge, which suits my dietary needs as well as my taste buds, but am sadly down to about one teaspoon, not enough for the larb moo and nam prik ong i was planning for tonight...! Any suggestions around here? I know there is that Filipino market across from Fair Share that has (if I remember correctly) a GF fish sauce from the Philippines, but I haven no experience with it. Would that be an appropriate substitute? Three Crabs is out due to the gluten issue.

Speedy suggestions would be most welcome!

Kristen

I've bought it at the Dominic's on Lake.
The brand was Thai Kitchen if I recall correctly.
Not outstanding quality but would probably do in a pinch.

Gluten free I'm not sure about - sorry

Thai Kitchen is far from the best fish sauce but it's definitely gluten free. It's what I use.

If you don't wanna take a chance on the joint across from fair share, Call Tony's in North Riverside. I know they carry a few brands, I'm just not sure which ones. Their "International Aisle" has surpised me a few times recently. They have been expanding it. another option might be the whole foods on lake/harlem. I wouldn't count on them having the brand you want, but they might just have a GF version for you.

Thanks all!

I ended up going to Tony's, because I had never been there and was curious. Happily surprised! That place is great. They had two brands of fish sauce, Three Crabs and the same one I had seen at the Filipino market, Pufina Patis. From the label, it appears to be safe ("Fish extract (assorted blend of scads, herrings, sardines, mackerels), water and salt less than 1/10 of 1% benzoate of soda added as preservative"). That's what I got, so we'll see. They also had a fantastic produce selection (didn't poke around too long, but was impressed to see long beans, water cress, shallots and a bunch of other random things I wouldn't likely have seen at Fair Share or my local carniceria). I got jasmine rice, which I also did not have high hopes of finding either. Anyway, I'll stop rambling and say Tony's! Great recommendation, thanks seebee.

kl5 wrote:Anyway, I'll stop rambling and say Tony's! Great recommendation, thanks seebee.

Indeed. Tony's has become our primary grocery store ever since seebee and Santander preached its goodness to my wife and I during the taco-thon a while back. Most of the offerings in their bakery look better than they taste, but otherwise Tony's is great for both selection and pricing.

If they had a self check out, better bakery, better fish, the big box cereal sale power of Jewel/Dominick's, and if they took expired coupons, it might be my vision of the perfect grocery store.

Couple of things I've noticed lately:

Check out the stand of pita bread near the olive bar! Blink and you'll walk right past it. But they have like 5 different kinds of pita. REAL stuff, too! (Check yer pkg for green spots)

E. Wedel Chocolate bars. SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! They go on sale for 69 cents regularly. SHHHHHHH. This week, they are 4 for $3.00. SHHHHHHHHHH! I might be a chocolate rube, but the milk chocolate is tops in my book for that price.

Also, they have a sneaky frozen organics section that is growing each time I go, and the prices are decent. Again, blink, and you'll walk right by it.

Between the dairy, and the fresh meat cases is a frozen foods section that has some interesting things - like a few brands of frozen paratha. Blink and you'll miss it.

They sometimes put the really good sale items at the front of the store in front of the cash registers. You'll never see them until you're on your way out after paying.

If you want something from their deli, get your number, and then shop for produce. I don't understand why so many ppl complain about the long waits. Nothing says you HAVE to stand there waiting for your number to be called.

I stop there pretty much twice a week. Love the Tony's!

I wanted to update this thread with a Squid brand sighting at the new Caputo's today. Under $2.00. They also carry the two previously discussed brands.

And at the risk of jacking my own thread... I will also mention as an aside that Caputo's has a really fantastic selection of shelf-stable gluten free foods in aisle 4, and a couple more items in the freezer, including Udi's bread. Though one thing I was hoping to find, frozen GF filled pastas or gnocchi, I left without. They may be there somewhere, but my basket was full and I stopped looking. It is interesting to me that Italian grocers and restaurants seem to be the most willing to accommodate gluten free diets. This fits with my experiences visiting family in Italian American heavy areas of Long Island where I had a GF "grandma" pizza that still makes me weepy when I think too long about it. Alas, one area Chicago still lags...

Was gonna say, Caputo's likely has a fine variety of sauces as well. Caputo's and Tony's are, to my mind, 85% identical, except the former defaults Italian and the latter veers Mexican.