Nước Chấm (Vietnamese Dipping Sauce)

This all-purpose Vietnamese dipping sauce (nước chấm means “dipping sauce”) was first taught to me by Susie Bui, a wonderful cook who once had a Vietnamese-Brazilian fusion restaurant in Dallas called Lumi. She came to Cooks Without Borders to share her recipe for Cha Ca La Vong.

The base of the sauce is fish sauce, lime juice and sugar; you can swap agave syrup for the sugar if you prefer. The key to a delicious nước chấm is getting the right balance of salty-sweet-tangy-umami, so it’s important to taste it and adjust — particularly because different brands of fish sauce have different levels of salt. We like Red Boat and Three Crabs brands.

Once that balance is achieved, you can add garlic and/or chile to your liking, or leave them out. Unless you like your sauce searing hot, best to start with one chile, and add more until it's as spicy as you like it.

Nước chấm keeps in the fridge for about 3-4 weeks.

Makes about 1/2 cup / 118 ml sauce.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

6 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon sugar

3 - 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped (optional)

1 to 3 Thai chiles, sliced (optional)

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, combine the fish sauce, lime juice, water and sugar; stir until the sugar is dissolved. Taste and add more lime juice, sugar or chiles as necessary for perfect balance.

2. Add garlic and/or chiles, if using.

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