Wow, my Mom has always recommended Golden Mountain Soy Sauce for substitution and it has worked out.

I've made my favorite Thai basil w/ fresh garlic & chilli with soy sauce and tofu. It tasted great! Otherwise, I use salt too.

Please tell me what dishes you're thinking about?

I strongly urge you to never lie to someone about what's in the food you prepare for them; especially if the ingredient is a common allergen! Not only could the foreign incredient make them sick, but it also implies that you don't respect their values.

I've bought vegetarian oyster sauces before, here are a couple of recipes for vegetarian fish sauce:

yumfood.net/recipes/fishsauce-vg.html
bittergreens.typepad.com/bitte...h.html

Ya know it really depends on what you are making. If you are making a salad like Larb ar papaya salad, I would just leave out the fish sauce. If I were making a coconut milk curry, I would add a little bit of salt, and less palm sugar. For stir-frys you can get a vegetarian mushroom sauce that subs well for oyster sauce. Its commonly used as a substitute in Thai cuisine. I also find that I'm just as happy with soy sauce in my stir-frys.

There are lots of options for vegetarians. I am a vegetarian and I eat Thai food a few times a week.
I would be really upset if someone lied to me about the fish sauce, there is no need not to be up front about something like that.
Vegetarian Oyster Sauce is good. I don't know how it is as a substitute, since I have never had fish sauce.

I am vegetarian and I live in Thailand. Most vegetarians substitute fish sauce for 'light' soy sauce, (usually Healthy Boy Brand -- yellow label with a fat kid on the front). Make sure you get 'light' and not 'dark' soy, as the taste is different. Also the dragonfly brand is good too. I would recommend against golden mountain, as the flavor there is really strong and will overpower most dishes.

In the case of most yum, etc, I usually use sea salt. Som Tum for example will be ruined with soy sauce, but it is fine with salt.

In the case of curries & soups when you might use Chicken broth to round the flavor, I use knorr brand soup cubes, shittake flavor. 1/4 -1/2 cube is enough for a pot. It really adds a lot.

There are plenty of different brands of vegetarian oyster sauce (sometimes called 'mushroom sauce' or 'vegetarian stir fry sauce'). This you can substitute for those Chinese-Thai recipes which you use oyster sauce. Sometimes I use salted bean sauce for a substitute for Shrimp Paste, to give it that fermented flavor.

I have some vegetarian recipes here, if you're interested:
www.realthairecipes.com/catego...tarian/

Also, on a side note, people who eat 'Jae' don't eat strong flavors either, no garlic & onions. BUT somehow it's ok to eat oysters & oyster sauce. People who don't eat meat & fish/oyster sauce, but DO eat strong flavors eat 'Mangsawirat' (mang-sa-wi-rat).

Hope that helps. :)
/Cee

Hi, I discovered that braggs (healthy alternative to soy souce), apple cider vinegar, Thai red curry paste, with added garlic (optional), serrano peeper, and a dash of olive oil (optional) satisfies in place of the fish sauce for some vegetarian Thai recipes.

Yummy:)