Vietnamese Dipping Fish Sauce Recipe (Nuoc Mam Cham) » Indonesia Eats

HomeRecipesAsian RecipesVietnamese Dipping Fish Sauce Recipe (Nuoc Mam Cham)October 2, 2010407ShareFacebookTwitterPinterestWhatsAppLinkedinReddItEmailPrintTelegramMixLINE

Making nước mắm chấm is like making sambal in Indonesian cuisine. There are some different measurements on making it for each person. Similar to sambal, this Vietnamese dipping fish sauce is served quite frequently as condiment.

Last June, I made a big batch of nước mắm chấm and based on Wandering Chopstick’s recipe. In that recipe, I used canesugar vinegar which can be used interchangeably with nypa vinegar. For you who are not familiar with these two vinegars, please check my post “Cuka Lahang and Cuka Aren – Canesugar and Nypa Sap Vinegars”

This time, I made another batch of nước mắm chấm based on Andrea Nguyen’s recipe. I decided to follow her recipe since she used lime.

This recipe goes for Delicious Vietnamese #6, hosted by Sijeleng of Javaholic.

Nước Mắm Chấm
– Vietnamese Dipping Fish Sauce –
adapted from Andrea Nguyen

Ingredients:
3 tbsp lime juice by squeezing fresh lime (I used key limes)
2 – 3 tbsp sugar
½ cup water
2 ½ tbsp fish sauce

Optional additions:
1 or 2 bird eyes chilies, thinly sliced
1 small garlic clove, finely minced

Directions:
1. Make limeade. Combine the lime juice, sugar and water, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Taste and as yourself this question: Does this limeade taste good? Adjust the flavors to balance out the sweet and sour.

2. Finish with fish sauce. Add the fish sauce and any of the optional ingredients. Taste again and adjust the flavors to your liking, balancing out the sour, sweet, salty and spicy. Aim for a bold, forward finish — perhaps a little stronger than what you’d normally like. This sauce is likely to be used to add final flavor to foods wrapped in lettuce or herbs, which are not salted and therefore need a little lift to heighten the overall eating experience.

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Notes
Advance Preparation – This sauce may be prepared early in the day and left to sit at room temperature.

Variation – Use half lime juice and half canseugar or nypa or Japanese rice vinegar for a less assertive sauce. Some delicately flavored dishes require this.

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  1. Torviewtoronto October 3, 2010 At 5:41 AMdelicious colourful sauceReply
  2. Spicie Foodie October 3, 2010 At 6:15 AMThanks for sharing these great recipes. I have yet to master this sauce so I'm looking forward to trying them.Reply
  3. Torviewtoronto October 3, 2010 At 12:41 PMdelicious colourful sauceReply
  4. Spicie Foodie October 3, 2010 At 1:15 PMThanks for sharing these great recipes. I have yet to master this sauce so I'm looking forward to trying them.Reply
  5. Xiaolu @ 6 Bitterswe October 4, 2010 At 3:24 AMI already commented on Flickr, but I really love the colors and details in this photo. I use soy sauce way more than fish sauce but still like to have both in my kitchen at all times. Great flavor.Reply
  6. Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets October 4, 2010 At 10:24 AMI already commented on Flickr, but I really love the colors and details in this photo. I use soy sauce way more than fish sauce but still like to have both in my kitchen at all times. Great flavor.Reply
  7. Indonesia Eats October 4, 2010 At 1:03 PM@Xiaolu: Indeed the same here. But the different, I use kecap manis more.Reply
  8. Indonesia Eats October 4, 2010 At 8:03 PM@Xiaolu: Indeed the same here. But the different, I use kecap manis more.Reply
  9. Medifast Coupons November 18, 2010 At 5:40 AMAnother use for the big bottle of fish sauce I have in the fridge. And we love vietnamese dipping sauce in our favorite restaurant not so much the kind you can buy at the grocers though. ThanksReply
  10. Medifast Coupons November 18, 2010 At 12:40 PMAnother use for the big bottle of fish sauce I have in the fridge. And we love vietnamese dipping sauce in our favorite restaurant not so much the kind you can buy at the grocers though. ThanksReply
  11. Vietnamese Grilled Shrimp Rice Vermicelli Recipe (Bun Tom Nuong) | Indonesia Eats September 3, 2011 At 7:39 PM[…] Mam Cham (for another version of Nước Mắm Chấm) 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup Nuoc Mam (Vietnamese Fish Sauce) 1/2 cup nypa or canesugar vinegar 1/2 cup […]Reply
  12. Vietnamese Grilled Shrimp on Sugarcane Recipe (Chao Tom) | Indonesia Eats September 12, 2011 At 1:14 AM[…] enjoyed the Chao Tom with beds of herbs and nước mắm chấm. A bag of Vietnamese mixed herbs can also be purchased at Asian […]Reply
  13. Bánh Xèo Recipe | Indonesia Eats January 9, 2012 At 7:47 PM[…] Vietnamese Dipping Sauce (Nước Mắm Chấm) Vietnamese herbs Vietnamese carrot and daikon pickle (Do Chua) […]Reply
  14. Raw Kale, Carrot, Cucumber, Celery Salad | Indonesia Eats | Authentic Online Indonesian Food Recipes May 17, 2019 At 9:22 PM[…] Salad with Coconut Peanut Dressing), Pecel (Javanese Peanut Sambal), Acar (Indonesian Pickle), Nuoc Mam Cham (Vietnamese dipping sauce) or Goma-ae (Japanese sesame seed dressing) is often what I do. When I don’t go for authentic […]Reply
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