Every good Vietnamese cook masters this dipping sauce. It's used in many dishes to bring all the elements together. However, it can be easily botched, especially if your taste buds are not well versed in balancing subtle nuances between sour, sweet, salty and spicy. Additionally, flavoring with fish sauce is tough if you're not used to working with it everyday, not to mention the fact that fish sauce qualities differ from brand to brand and sometimes from lot to lot!
Growing up, I was given the task of being our family's dipping saucier. We are a serious group of eaters prone to chiding the cook for poor food preparation. So out of self-preservation, I devised the method below that's served me well over the years. Rather than mix everything together at once, I've broken up the process to simplify matters for the taste buds.
Nuoc cham building strategies
- Establish a tart-sweet base: This is basically a limeade of sorts. It should taste pleasant to you like you'd drink it but not too much!
- Add a salty condiment: Once you've established the foundation, now add the fish sauce to layer on the umami, salty flavors. This compliments the tangy base.
- Stir in the bling: Do you want heat? Sliced or chopped chiles, chile garlic sauce, or Sriracha are the options. How about pungency? Stir in finely chopped or mashed garlic. How about crunch? Drop in a bit of shredded carrot, kohlrabi, or green papaya and let it marinate for a spell in the sauce. You can have all of that in the nuoc cham too! Make it as you like it.
Fish sauce choices
You have many choices of fish sauce these days. Many people prefer brands such as Viet Huong's Three Crabs or Flying Lion, which are made in a light Vietnamese style, rather than the heavier Thai or Filipino styles. Nowadays, there are artisanal options from Vietnam, such as Red Boat and Son fish sauce too! For a general discussion, take a look at my guide on how to buy and use fish sauce. If you shop at regular supermarkets, check out my supermarket fish sauce tasting notes to help you shop and select a brand. Many people wonder how to keep fish sauce around, so I also have tips on how to store fish sauce.
Vegan nuoc cham (nuoc mam chay)
Interested in a vegan take? Check the vegetarian fish sauce dipping sauce recipe (nuoc cham chay). If you have my 2023 book, Ever-Green Vietnamese, use the vegan fish sauce recipe on page 29 to make excellent nuoc mam chay!
