Liquid "sh sauces (n"61) collected from seven Southeast and East Asian countries were analyzed for free amino acids, organic acids, nucleosides and nucleic acid bases as well as creatine, creatinine, pH, salt content, moisture, and total nitrogen. The "sh sauces were only made from "sh species such as anchovy and sardine. A high nitrogen recovery of 97.9% was obtained for all nitrogen-containing compounds in a Vietnamese "sh sauce. The "sh sauces of Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand showed high concentrations of these compounds except for organic acids and a very close amino acid pattern whereas those of Myanmar and Laos exhibited the lowest contents and a di!erent amino acid pattern from those of the above three countries. Korean and Chinese "sh sauces showed intermediate contents and the same amino acid pattern. Of all organic acids determined, acetate dominated in Myanmar and Chinese "sh sauces, suggesting that acetic acid fermentation is predominant. In the "sh sauces from other countries, pyroglutamate and lactate were high. These data will give a standard for the chemical composition of "sh sauces from various Southeast and East Asian countries and during the production of "sh sauce. These results also indicate that creatinine which originates from creatine during "sh sauce fermentation and receives only small bacterial decomposition is a possible marker for the quality control in "sh sauce factories, because its determination is much easier and time saving than for the other compounds.