Hotel chef periodically checking fish sauce (9)
I believe the answer is:
insolence
'sauce' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'hotel chef periodically checking fish' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'fish' could be 'sole' (sole is a kind of fish) and 'sole' is found within the answer.
'hotel' could be 'inn' (inn is a kind of hotel) and 'inn' is found within the leftover letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for insolence that I've seen before include "Cheek, irreverence" , "lack of respect" , "freshness" , "Front" , "Lip; cheek" .)