Nước Chấm is a sweet and spicy, sour and savory Vietnamese sauce (red chili garlic sauce) that is a staple in Vietnamese cuisine- it works as a dipping sauce for spring rolls, seafood, chicken salad, pork, steak, noodles or for fish. It's 1 of my favorite Vietnamese sauces- in fact, so easy to make at home it's 1 of the first sauces I used to elevate my cooking back in college!
📖 Ingredients
You will only need a few simple ingredients:
- fish sauce
- fresh red chilies: if you want a super simple (not super authentic but still tasty recipe), you can substitute the red chilies and garlic with Sriracha.
- fresh garlic
- white sugar
- fresh lime juice: in a pinch, I've used lemon juice and white rice vinegar as a substitute but nothing beats the taste of fresh lime.
- hot water: the water needs to be hot to melt the sugar
- Variations: you can also add sliced lemongrass, fresh ginger, chili flakes etc
Note: in Vietnam, they pound the garlic and chilies together, before mixing in the sugar and lime juice. The fish sauce is added right before serving, and water is added to taste. However, most people want a quick and easy method, and mixing minced garlic and minced chilies also creates a nice sauce.
🥡 How to Store
Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
As I'm paranoid about botulism, I prefer not to keep anything with fresh garlic in the fridge for too long.
👩🏻🍳 How to Use
You can use it as a dipping sauce for:
- roast chicken
- Vietnamese lumpia spring rolls
- Vietnamese crepe Banh Xeo
- lettuce wraps
- etc
🥗 Suggested Accompanying Recipes
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Vietnamese Sauce (Nước Chấm)
Equipment
- 1 Knife and cutting board Or mortar and pestle if you want to pound the chili-garlic mix (the traditional Vietnamese way.)
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons white sugar
- 5 Tablespoons hot water
- 1 Thai red chili If you want a super simple (not super authentic but still tasty recipe), you can substitute the red chilies and garlic with Sriracha.
- 1 clove fresh garlic
- 2½ Tablespoons fresh lime juice Or to taste. In a pinch, I've used lemon juice and white rice vinegar as a substitute but nothing beats the taste of fresh lime.
- 3 Tablespoons fish sauce
Instructions
- Mix the sugar and water till the sugar dissolves.
- Add in the minced garlic, minced chilies, followed by the fish sauce and lime juice.
Notes
- I find that 1 chili gives it some kick but isn't too spicy. If you like it spicier, you can add an extra chili. If you don't want it spicy, use a big red chili and omit the seeds. (Note that changing the spice level will change the amount of sugar you need to balance the flavors.)
- If you prefer a tangier sauce, add more lime juice.
Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its veracity.
Nutrition
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