Nuoc Cham Recipe Instructions
In a small bowl, dissolve the sugar into the hot water. Once dissolved, stir in thefish sauce
When you are ready to serve the nuoc cham, add the freshly squeezed lime juice
Minced garlic
And chopped chilies. These items are best added fresh.
If you like more heat, use fresh choppedThai chili peppers instead of Holland chilies. Theyll give the sauce a spicier kick!
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How To Make Nuoc Cham
Combine the water, fish sauce, lime juice, rice vinegar, white sugar, garlic, and chilies together in a glass jar. Seal with a lid and shake well. Set aside to allow flavors to mingle for at least 20 minutes.
Store in a clean and airtight glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, but make sure you always use clean utensils when handling it. Enjoy.
How Long Does Nc Chm Last
I highly recommend making at least a small jarful of this delicious dipping sauce to keep in the fridge as youll surely want to try it on all sorts of dishes. In fact, a jar of Nc Chm is a common sight in any Vietnamese familys fridge! It can last 3-4 weeks in the fridge in an airtight container. The flavors from the garlic and chili will infuse into the liquid even more the longer you keep this sauce, so expect it to get better each time.
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Why Make This Sauce
Ready in under 5 minutes, this sweet-chili-lime-garlic dipping sauce is not only great with Asian cuisine like fried wontons but is a game changer with everyday foods like chicken wings, fish tenders and nachos. Alone or combined with olive oil or drops of sesame oil, it transforms into a finger licking dressing that is delicious, drizzled on cold rice noodles or salad based pizzas.
Adding a little grated ginger and Sambal Olek to the base recipe is one of my favorite variations to add a little pizzazz to weeknight dinners like juicy pan fried salmon with crispy skin. If you love Asian dipping sauces, its a delicious, lighter alternative to peanut sauce.
The primary ingredient in this recipe is fish sauce which, if you have never tried before, warrants a special introduction. The first time I opened a bottle of fish sauce, I was at a bit of a loss about how this would work as an ingredient. Fish sauce straight from the bottle has a very fishy flavor, is extremely salty and you’ve-gotta-be-kidding pungent.
After a little experience though, I found that used correctly, fish sauce adds a serious umami punch that can add an ovation-worthy range of possibilities to my day-to-day menu. Because of its potency, a little fish sauce goes a very long way. Also, recipes like Nuoc cham, which calls for larger amounts of fish sauce, typically include other components like lime juice, garlic and water, which balances out the strong straight-out-of the-bottle flavor.
Nuoc Cham / Nuoc Mam Ingredients And Substitutions
- Fish Sauce One of the major components that gives this sauce its umami and salty taste is fish sauce. Squid brand fish sauce is one of my favorites since its simple to obtain and just has three ingredients: anchovy, salt, and sugar. Golden Boy fish sauce is an alternate brand that is a little tougher to come by but has a lot stronger and saltier taste. Keep in mind that each type of fish sauce has a different degree of saltiness, so youll have to tweak the recipe to get it just right. If you want to create a vegetarian version of this sauce, replace the fish sauce with soy sauce.
- Sugar is one of the key components that helps to balance the sweetness of the sauce. If you dont want to use sugar, honey may be substituted.
- Garlic Because garlic is the primary flavor of this sauce, it cannot be skipped or substituted.
- Lime This recipes acidity comes from the lime. You may also use white or rice vinegar, or combine a little amount of vinegar with the lime juice.
- Hot Water The hot water aids in the blending of the salty, sweet, and tart flavors into a more balanced level. It also aids in the sugars dissolution.
- Chili Chili peppers provide a kick to this Vietnamese dipping sauce. I prefer to use one birds eye chile since it gives me enough spice without overwhelming the sauce.
- Carrots I add shredded carrots to the sauce to add color and make it seem more appealing. Carrots are an optional ingredient that may be left out.
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Ingredients You Need To Make This Basic Vietnamese Dipping Sauce
- Lime juice freshly squeezed is best. This represents the SOUR element.
- Fish sauce use only the best and purest quality you can find . This represents the SALTY element.
- Sugar white or brown is fine. Brown sugar like the one I used above, makes this sauce slightly darker. This represents the SWEET element.
- Water helps dilute the sauce a little and also aids in balancing all the other flavors.
- Thai red chili this would add a little kick but wont make the spring rolls or salad spicy so dont forget to add this. This represents the SPICY element.
- Garlic adds even more complexity and deliciousness to the sauce!
This sauce is perfect to use with spring rolls, as dressing for salads or noodles, and adds extra yum when served with grilled meats and so much more!
Soak The Garlic In Lime Juice To Make It Less Spicy
If you have ever eaten anything that has raw garlic in it, you will notice that raw garlic can pack quite a punch and has a spicy kick to it.
Depending on how much you love garlic, you can actually tone that garlickiness down a notch by soaking it in lime juice for 15 minutes before combining the rest of the ingredients to make the sauce.
I learned this neat trick through Serious Eats – How to Tame Garlic’s Pungent Flavor. Ah, the beauty of food science! ð
This is a completely optional step. If you don’t mind the spiciness and sharp bite from raw garlic then there’s no need to soak the garlic in the lime juice beforehand ð
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Traditional Vietnamese Dipping Sauce
Nuoc cham is the quintessential Vietnamese dipping sauce. It is used in a variety of Vietnamese dishes in many applications. Every family has their own variation of this sauce, and this is my familys recipe! Included in this recipe are instructions on how to make different variations of this sauce and substitutions for ingredients.
If there is 1 thing that I use on a day-to-day basis when making Vietnamese dishes is fish sauce. Fish sauce is a smelly but tasty seasoning that Vietnamese people use in everything. I remember watching a TV show once with Gordon Ramsey, and he said to a chef, Im surprised youre putting fish sauce in that ground pork. And the chef said, If you dont put fish sauce, then its not Vietnamese. lol One of the most common uses of fish sauce is in Nuoc Cham or better known as Vietnamese dipping sauce.
What Is Vietnamese Dipping Sauce Made Of
A pantry staple in the Vietnamese kitchen, Nuoc Cham or Vietnamese Dipping Sauce is made of water, sugar, lime juice and fish sauce. Its basically a limeade or lemonade with an umami punch. Optional flavoring ingredients such as minced garlic and chilis enhance the flavor.
Most of the sauce is water. Because the sweet component is so important its critical to make sure that the sugar dissolves completely. I typically boil a small amount of the water first, then add the sugar and stir to make sure that every grain melts into the liquid. Once the sugar has dissolved I add the rest of the water which should be cooler because the final sauce tastes best at room temperature.
While white sugar offers a sweet, yet neutral canvas to this sauce, other types of sugars work well too. Brown sugar, for example, adds a wonderful caramel-like flavor while a drizzle of honey can add a fruity or floral flavor depending on its nectar source. Palm sugar adds a smoky butterscotch taste. I have successfully made this recipe with commonly available sugar substitutes like Splenda and Truvia.
If the lime juice is too acidic, replace part or or all of it with rice vinegar for a milder sour taste without the bite. Different types of vinegar such as rice vinegar and apple cider vinegar have different intensities and flavors so taste frequently while adding small amounts to determine the amount which produces the most pleasing flavor to you.
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An All Purpose Dipping Sauce Dressing & Condiment
This nuoc cham can play many roles at the dinner table.
Its perfect for dipping summer rolls and cha gio , and it also makes a great dressing for rice noodle salads like Sarahs Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Grilled Chicken.
Its also delicious with any grilled meat in general. Dip your meat in it or pour the nuoc cham over a side of rice. Trust me, youll be reaching for it mid-meal.
Whether youre using nuoc cham as a dressing, dipping sauce or even a marinade for meats, its so versatile and tasty.
Vegetarian Summer Rolls With 3 Dipping Sauces
Published: Jun 22, 2020 by Jamie · As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This post may contain affiliate links ·
Vietnamese vegetarian summer rolls with avocado, tofu & fresh rainbow veggies. Serve them with 3 dipping sauces – peanut sauce, hoisin & Vietnamese dipping sauce!
These Vietnamese vegetarian summer rolls are filled with an assortment of rainbow colored vegetables, creamy avocado, and protein rich tofu!
They can go by various names – summer rolls, fresh spring rolls, rainbow rolls, or rice paper rolls.
But whatever you call them, they’re great for the summer and make a healthy, crunchy meal with three different dipping sauces that are full of Vietnamese flavors!
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How Long Can Nuoc Cham / Nuoc Mam Be Keeped
The length of time you can keep this depends on whether you use vinegar in the sauce. If youre just using fresh lime juice, I wouldnt store it for more than a week or two its best eaten right away. You may store it for approximately 2 months if it contains vinegar. Make careful to keep it refrigerated in an airtight container.
Nuoc Cham Vietnamese Dipping Sauce
Nc Chm is magical, like a glutamic acid-spitting komodo dragon capable of granting culinary wishes. That kind of magical. The Vietnamese understand this. Its high time we white folk caught on.
Ive often been known to exaggerate, but Im deathly serious when I tell you that this simple dipping sauce will change the way you eat. And by that, I mean youll find yourself preparing food with the sole purpose of being drown in the sauce. Nuoc Cham is the quintessential Vietnamese dipping sauce. Its a simple mixture of fish sauce , water, lime juice, sugar, garlic and chilies. Salty, sweet, sour, spicy, with umami kick. What more can you ask for? I prefer to split the lime with rice wine. It is less traditional, but I like the balance that it brings. I also use a bit less sugar than you often see. If you commonly shy away from fish sauce, I implore you to give this a try. Its so much more. And its anything but fishy. We recently conducted a tasting of fish sauce brands, Red Boat surfaced as our brand of choice.
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How To Use Nc Chm
I like to use this stuff a lot, especially in the summertime so I like to double or triple the batch when I make it. Here are a few things you can serve this with if you have any extra dipping sauce!
- Fresh rice spring rolls /Deep-fried spring rolls – This dipping sauce goes fantastic on any type of spring roll, both fresh and deep-fried. It takes the greasiness out of deep-fried spring rolls, and it brings the freshness out of soft rice spring rolls!
- Any type of Vietnamese/Thai grilled meats – this dipping sauce cuts into the heaviness of any grilled or greasy meat dish and gives it a pop in flavor.
- Use it as a lighter alternative to peanut sauce for satay meat skewers
- Use it as a salad dressing – It’s light and packed with garlicky flavor. If you’re into that then definitely try it as a light vinaigrette for a salad.
- Vermicelli bowls with fresh veggies and herbs – This dipping sauce, when poured over a vermicelli rice noodle bowl adds amazing umami flavors to any noodle bowl with a balance of sweet, tart, and salty pop.
- Use in on Vietnamese recipes like Banh Xeo and Banh Cuon
- …the sky is the limit, be creative with it!
How Do You Make Fish Sauce From Scratch
How from scratch are we talkin?
Recently, I visited a fish sauce factory in Phu Quoc, Vietnam where most of the best fish sauce is produced to see how they made their fermented sauce. The basic ingredient list is anchovies, water, and sea salt, but the process and timeline to create such pungent sauce at home for a months-long project is difficult to achieve. To learn more about fish sauce, read my fish sauce post.
While people ask this, its more likely youre trying to make the prepared dipping fish saucethe one I have the recipe for below. I do, however, like making Nc chm sauce at home using store bought fish sauce.
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Tips For The Best Vietnamese Dipping Sauce
- This recipe makes a small batch. You can easily double or triple the recipe for a larger batch for meal prepping.
- You can alter this recipe based on your preferences. If you prefer a more tart fish sauce, then you can add more lemon juice 1 teaspoon at a time. If you want a less pungent fish sauce then you can add more water 1 tablespoon at a time to taste.
To Reduce The Garlics Garlicky Spicy Bite Soak It In Lime Juice
If youve ever eaten anything with raw garlic in it, youll know that its a powerful ingredient. It has a spicier garlic taste and a harsher garlic flavor. Depending on how much garlic you like, soaking it in lime juice for 15 minutes before mixing the rest of the ingredients to create the sauce may actually tone it down a notch.
Serious Eats How to Tame Garlics Pungent Flavor taught me this useful technique. Oh, the wonders of food science!
This is just a personal preference. Theres no need to soak the garlic in lime juice beforehand if you dont mind the spiciness and strong bite of raw garlic.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s a light, fat free sauce that doesn’t weight you down
- Tons of flavor – tangy, bright, sweet, spicy, salty
- It’s super versatile – you can use this to dip fresh spring rolls or fried spring rolls, wontons, vermicelli bowls, and more!
- Doubles as a marinade – add in chopped lemongrass and use this to marinate pork, chicken, beef, or seafood!
- Use it as a dressing – add this fish sauce vinaigrette to any Asian style salads
Did You Make This Vietnamese Dipping Sauce
If you made this Vietnamese staple, I would love to see!
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Should You Use Lime Juice Or Vinegar
Whenever I make Vietnamese Fish Sauce Dipping Sauce , I personally like to use fresh lime juice because of the additional flavor fresh limes give it. It’s a bit more citrus and fruity flavor.
Keep in mind, most Vietnamese dipping sauces made at restaurants usually use white vinegar or rice vinegar, mostly because it’s a lot cheaper to produce and it’s quicker to make, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
From time to time I will also use vinegar as well when I am out of limes at home, but if you are looking for something closer to what you get at a restaurant, then vinegar would be the ingredient you’d want to use for the tartness.
One of the main differences, I notice between using vinegar and fresh lime juice is the level of sourness and flavor.
Vinegar is slightly less sour compared to fresh lime juice, and lime juice has a slight fruity lime flavor. Use what you have on hand, or what your personal preference is! If you can’t decide between the two, you can mix and match both vinegar and lime!
