Nuoc Cham: a great dipping sauce, easy to make!

Last night, I was introduced to Nuoc Cham, a very tasty sweet & sour Vietnamese dipping sauce.

Nuoc Cham
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. Asian fish sauce
2 tbsp. water

Stir the ingredients together until the sugar dissolves.

That's all there is to it! This simple combo winds up tasting A) delicious, and B) vaguely like a Mai Tai. Of course, it's missing a lot of the elements of a Mai Tai, but the balance of sweet-to-sour-to-fish-sauce does come together just right.

I made this as a dipping sauce for crab legs, and it was so yummy that we hardly touched the melted butter with lemon that I'd also prepared. I got the recipe from an excellent cookbook called Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen.

Since I'm new to Nuoc Cham, I don't know what it's traditionally served with, but I want to try it as a dipping sauce for spring rolls -- I've never been a fan of the syrupy sweet & sour sauce they're usually served with, where the sour seems to have been forgotten altogether. Maybe it would be good with Crab Rangoon as well? I'd love to hear more ideas for food this sauce would go well with.

On 2006-11-26 08:43, Humuhumu wrote:
2 tbsp. Asian fish sauce

Bravo, Humu! "Asian Fish Sauce"(Nuoc Nam): Juice from fish allowed to 'ferment" for 6 months or so. How can one not love it?

I feel a cocktail recipe coming on...

Here's another version:
Nuoc Cham
4 red chilies
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp sugar
2 limes, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp hot water
1 tbsp vinegar
5 tbsp nuoc mam (fish sauce)

Remove stalks from chilies and de-seed if you want a milder dip, though this defeats the purpose of nuoc cham. Pound garlic in a pestle and add chilies one by one, processing until you get a fine paste. Add sugar and lime pieces and pound to a pulp. Remove to a small sauce bowl and add water, vinegar, and fish sauce. Mix well and serve. Variations on the sauce can include chopped coriander, chopped ginger, pineapple, and any fresh herbs.

Nuoc Cham (or Nuoc Mam as it's called by some) is one of the best things to come out of Vietnam. I put it on Bun (rice vermicelli), dip Cha Gio (spring rolls), all kinds of stuff. It's great for dipping cooked meats, shrimp, and vegetables.

The tricky part is getting the balance of ingredients just right. A recipe is a good start, but knowing what it's supposed to taste like in the first place gives you something to aim for - just like a good cocktail. If at all possible, I'd suggest having a Vietnamese friend help with the first batch or two to guide you on your path to Nuoc Mam mastery.

• SV

(One caution: if you eat it often enough, the scent of it seeps out through your pores. I don't mind, but some people might.)