Comments on: At least they'll know what to serve it with

At least they'll know what to serve it with

fenriq — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 21:56:01 -0800

Fish Wine
The French used grapes, Russians fermented potatoes, Koreans put ginseng in their drink and Mexicans distilled cactus plants to make fiery tequila.
Now China has made wine out of fish.

By: spacewrench

spacewrench — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 21:58:54 -0800

Experts said the wine is nutritious and contains low alcohol Sorry, but I prefer my wine high in alcohol, and made from plants.

By: luckyclone

luckyclone — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 22:19:20 -0800

Fucking maniacs.

By: Slack-a-gogo

Slack-a-gogo — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 22:29:39 -0800

I didn't know Abe Vigoda had a wine!

By: bokane

bokane — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 22:33:28 -0800

I have to say that, after living in China for 2 years and sampling various native spirits, fish seem a fairly decent base. Certainly better than sorghum, the base for the noxious northern baijiu, which tastes like nail polish remover and could probably be used to, e.g., thin paint and exfoliate elephants.

By: interrobang

interrobang — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 22:36:57 -0800

I'd try it.

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 22:39:26 -0800

The smell, as with most beverages, will make or break this one on western palates -- mine included.

By: dorian

dorian — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 22:42:38 -0800

maybe it can be distilled into a sort of fish brandy.

By: nthdegx

nthdegx — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 22:56:22 -0800

"China gives 'drink like a fish' new meaning". How? How does fish wine give that phrase new meaning? I've been up thirty minutes and already my day has been ruined by an idiot. Wine made from seafood sounds distinctly fishy to me... on a scale of one to ten, that is. I mean -- one would have expected the Finns to have come up with it.

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:09:16 -0800

I've been up thirty minutes and already my day has been ruined by an idiot. I pity those whose days are ruined by trivialities like this.

By: Wolof

Wolof — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:09:27 -0800

Oh. My. Cod.

By: Tlogmer

Tlogmer — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:13:33 -0800

How does fish wine give that phrase new meaning? Drink, like, a fish. Valley girl style.

By: interrobang

interrobang — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:18:55 -0800

A fish-based drink goes especially well with a white wine. Remember that. Unless the fish-based drink is made of salmon, in which case it would be a tremendous faux pas not to drink it with a red wine.

By: nthdegx

nthdegx — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:19:39 -0800

I pity those whose days are ruined by trivialities like this. I was joking! Now my day's ruined.

By: monosyllabic

monosyllabic — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:22:48 -0800

This isn't an innovation. This is a college party dare.

By: davy

davy — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:23:46 -0800

"I prefer my wine high in alcohol, and made from plants." That depends on what I'm eating. I've found beer goes better with meals than wine unless I'm trying to sleep; whiskey with a meal will mean I wasted what I spent on food and liquor (and woe to me if it was supposed to be a "special" meal). On the other hand, wine and whiskey are fine before or after a meal. But I don't think I could get fish wine past my nose. Fish wine sounds right up there with ipecac-laced Aqua Velva. Does that mean I'm not a hopeless alkie yet? Oh and the Finns already contributed: where do you think vodka came from? Thin, slightly bitter but otherwise tasteless, best enjoyed cold, spending more does not guarantee it'll get any better.... Just like my Finnish ex Tiina from Espoo.

By: davy

davy — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:32:24 -0800

Fenriq, potatoes didn't hit Russia till the late 18th century, after they caught on Ireland. Originally the Russians used rye, wheat, honey, or bear piss. And monosyllabic, a college party dare is that foul Jagermeister stuff. That's from a time when (witch-) doctors thought throwing up is GOOD for you.

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:44:18 -0800

No no. Rumplemintz is the clear insta-hurl inducing champion. When done as back-to-back double shots. To top off a night of drinking. Ok, so insta-hurl is a bit of a misnomer, since it took effect on the Bay Bridge en route to Oakland. So sorry, car behind us.

By: AloneOssifer

AloneOssifer — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:47:54 -0800

Wolof said it best...

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:50:58 -0800

based on this alone, i, for one, welcome our sino-un moonbase dwelling overlords. bring me the fish beer!

By: phyrewerx

phyrewerx — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:58:49 -0800

Hey don't forget snake wine.

By: furiousxgeorge

furiousxgeorge — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 00:06:40 -0800

A Cambodian friend of mine gave me wine with snakeskin in it and it was pretty good...the whole snake is going to far. Oh, and I don't think the agave plant is technically a cactus.

By: HTuttle

HTuttle — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 00:09:46 -0800

Goes great with white grapes.

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 00:28:35 -0800

Ketchup was originally made from fermented fish sauce mixed with tomatos. Fish wine sounds more appetizing than ketchup.

By: ikalliom

ikalliom — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 00:42:37 -0800

Fish wine cannot possibly be worse than Laotian snake whiskey (scroll down). Absolutely the worst drink I've ever had. I believe vodka was invented in Russia, us Finns have only Kossu (basically the same thing but flavored with a tiny bit of sugar, which makes it taste worse than vodka, in my opinion, but I guess that's sort of the point).

By: Mitrovarr

Mitrovarr — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 00:56:51 -0800

I don't think China is trying to market a successful product here, I think they're trying to get rid of all their drunks. All they need to do is sneak it in to the Chinese convenience stores, next to the listerine, but make a little cheaper. One bottle of fermented fish is probably all it will take to ruin alcohol for anyone, forever. The smell alone is probably lethal. What kind of genius decides to try to ferment the one thing noted for having an absolutely horrendous odor as it rots?

By: RavinDave

RavinDave — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 01:23:26 -0800

Hiroyuki Sakai routinely made fish ice-cream on "Iron Chef".

By: TungstenChef

TungstenChef — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 02:41:23 -0800

Certainly better than sorghum, the base for the noxious northern baijiu, which tastes like nail polish remover and could probably be used to, e.g., thin paint and exfoliate elephants. As baijiu is a distilled drink (at least according to everything I see in Google), this isn't the sorghum's fault, it's the distillers. Those lovely nail polish remover smells come from the fusel oils, alcohols heavier than ethanol. In small amounts they are good for body and taste, in large quantities they are the hallmark of cheap liquor. In order to get the fusel oils out there is more waste, so they leave the nasty stuff in which leads to the awful taste and bad hangovers.

By: twisted mister

twisted mister — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 03:50:33 -0800

Living in China, I found it interesting when I learned what types of odors were considered offensive here. For example, no one notices the smell of urine or the stench of BO on a crowded subway, but put some meat on the grill and everyone runs away holding their breath. This fish wine may smell just fine to Chinese noses. sneak it in to the Chinese convenience stores, next to the listerine, but make a little cheaper. If my coworkers' breath is any indication, this may have already been done.

By: raygirvan

raygirvan — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 03:56:39 -0800

At least there are plenty of ready-made associated products, like the Caroline Forbis Fish Wine Cooler. But seriously, exactly how do you ferment fish? It's mostly protein, so we're not talking yeast; it'd have to be some kind of strange anaerobic culture that broke protein down to ethanol. Is there such a thing?

By: stonerose

stonerose — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 05:03:20 -0800

Nam pla, the Vietnamese condiment, is made from fermented anchovies. And to my mind, it's a huge argument against fish wine.

By: TungstenChef

TungstenChef — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 05:33:12 -0800

it'd have to be some kind of strange anaerobic culture that broke protein down to ethanol. Is there such a thing? No, there isn't. They're probably fermenting the fish for the flavor (it will basically turn into fish sauce, complete with the savory umami flavor and not quit as savory smell) and rice or another grain for the alcohol.

By: raygirvan

raygirvan — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 05:45:24 -0800

Agreed. That process breaks the protein down to a salty amino acid mix (see Microflora of Four Fermented Fish Sauces. I do wonder if this is down to a mistranslation, and they're just making fish sauce.

By: Chunder

Chunder — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 05:47:13 -0800

Thanks for that, phyrewerx - now I'm totally grossed-out. *shudder*

By: c13

c13 — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 05:51:42 -0800

That's just fucked up.

By: shoepal

shoepal — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 07:18:04 -0800

Really "good" fish sauce in Thailand (supposedly) doesn't taste like fish at all, so I wouldn't expect fish wine to taste too fishy. It's only made of rice, but Soju is pretty nasty stuff. I also like Polinka(sp?), an eastern european drink that is made by throwing rotten fruit(s) into a bucket and letting it sit for months. Yum! twisted mister you just explained why Chinatown(s) often smell of urine and nobody seems to mind.

By: Frasermoo

Frasermoo — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 07:25:44 -0800

The first two links are the same story. Lame.

By: SisterHavana

SisterHavana — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 07:32:23 -0800

Ugh...I think I'll pass.

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 07:33:29 -0800

Now I know which wine to have with my dog stew. The smell alone is probably lethal. What kind of genius decides to try to ferment the one thing noted for having an absolutely horrendous odor as it rots? Limburger Cheese Wine? Unwashed Gym Clothes Wine? Paper Plant Pulp byProducts Wine? Bloated Corpse Found in the Trunk of a Car Sitting in the Sun for Days Wine?

By: u.n. owen

u.n. owen — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 07:37:40 -0800

tent caterpillar wine.

By: squidlarkin

squidlarkin — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 08:34:46 -0800

Bloated Corpse Found in the Trunk of a Car Sitting in the Sun for Days Wine? My favorite! *downs a glass*

By: fenriq

fenriq — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 09:30:51 -0800

Bloated Corpse Found in the Trunk of a Car Sitting in the Sun for Days Wine? Is that the wine that eats like a meal? Snake wine sounds disgusting but so does dandelion wine and they make that too. Frasermoo, its called a back up link.

By: Mike D

Mike D — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 09:32:26 -0800

Well I'm not one to carp about some plaice serving this just for the halibut, but I wouldn't accept a glass from a friend or anemone!

By: chundo

chundo — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 10:59:38 -0800

Copycats. Dan Akroyd invented it decades ago.