Nuoc Cham is a dipping sauce that’s a staple in Vietnamese cuisine. It’s an irresistible mixture of flavours; it’s sweet, sour, salty and spicy. It’s a must with Vietnamese summer rolls but also a perfect condiment to rice noodle salads and delicious with grilled meats!
Nuoc Cham
🍴 Makes: 100ml
🕒 Hands-on: ~ 10 minutes
🎛 Cooking time: No cooking!
INGREDIENTS
- garlic clove, minced
- red chilli pepper, minced
- 1 tsp ginger, minced (optional)
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp water
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
STEPS
1 Mince the garlic, chilli and ginger (if using).
2 Measure the sugar, vinegar, water, lime juice and fish sauce into a small bowl, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Then add all chopped ingredients. Serve straight away or store covered in the fridge.
Notes:
- Ingredients — Nuoc cham or Nước chấm if spelled correctly, is a dipping sauce in general, which probably explains why there are so many recipe variations. At its simplest, nuoc cham contains lime juice and/or vinegar, fish sauce, sugar and water. Optional ingredients then include chilli, garlic, lemongrass and ginger
- Heat — Adjust the spice level according to your taste! I normally use a whole bird’s eye chilli with seeds for this recipe. You can also experiment with the ingredients, adding more lime juice, fish sauce or sugar to suit your taste and achieve your preferred flavour balance
- Quantity — The amount this recipe makes is good for 10 rice paper rolls or for two vermicelli noodle bowls
Main equipment:
Small bowl
Measuring spoons
Chopping board + knife
Pair Nuoc cham with these amazing Vietnamese summer rolls! ⤵︎
