Nước Mắm Chấm (Vietnamese Dipping Sauce)

12 Sep 2014

This is a very versatile sauce and used in many Vietnamese dishes such as spring rolls, summer rolls, crepes, etc. The sweetness and sourness of the sauce greatly enhances the vegetables and meat/seafood that this sauce is often served with. I can easily take spoonful of this wonderful sauce whenever I eat my spring rolls.

Be sure to use good quality fish sauce. These are available at your local Chinese supermarket (such as Ranch 99 or Marina if you are in SF Bay Area). Most brands add MSG to enhance flavor, so avoid them if you want all natural. Maybe one day I will try to make my own when I get around to this…

Ingredients

• ¹⁄₂ cup fish sauce
• ¹⁄₄ cup water
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• juice of 1 lime
• ¹⁄₃ cup sugar
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Shallot, minced
• 1 to 3 bird’s eye chilies, thinly sliced

Yield: 1 cup of sauce