Many friends from abroad have told me they love Vietnamese dipping fish sauce, nước chấm, and want to learn how to make it. It can seem like a family secret, because each Vietnamese family makes it a different way. What olive oil is to the Italians, fish sauce is to the Vietnamese. Nước chấm is a dip for spring rolls, a dressing for noodles and rice, and a marinade for grilled meat. Mix fish sauce with a little lime, garlic and chilli, and it becomes softer and easier to use than fish sauce on its own. It goes with all kinds of Vietnamese dishes and has several names: nước chấm (dipping sauce), nước mắm pha (mixed fish sauce) and nước mắm chua ngọt (sweet and sour fish sauce). There are many variations, but they all start from the basic sauce. This is the basic version, from my mother’s recipe. Ingredients 1 bowl water 2/3 bowl fish sauce 1/2 sugar (the original gives no unit) 5 pieces garlic, peeled Red chillies, as many as you like How to make nước chấm 1. Chop the garlic and chilli Chop the garlic and red chillies together with a knife. Don’t use a mortar, because it can make the mixture muddy. 2. Cook the sauce Bring the water and sugar to the boil, then pour in the fish sauce and cook for 5 more minutes. Taste it and adjust to suit you. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool for about 5 to 10 minutes. 3. Add the garlic and chilli and store Put the chilli and garlic into the mixture and stir regularly. When the sauce isn’t hot anymore, pour it into a bottle and keep it in the fridge. Tips Use a different spoon for scooping the sauce out than the one you eat with, if you want to keep it in good condition. If you’d like it a little sour, squeeze some lime into the sauce once you’ve spooned it into a bowl. Share:
