A quick and easy recipe for Vietnamese Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Cham / Nuoc Mam) made with fish sauce with a balance of sweet, sour, and salty flavors.
If you ever had Vietnamese food either at a restaurant, with family, or at a friends place, you'll know exactly what I mean when I say - those little bowls of dipping sauces that come with your spring rolls (both fresh and fried), grilled meats and Vietnamese Vermicelli Noodle Bowls are flavor bombs! Those little bowls of liquid gold are what they call Nuoc Cham or Nuoc Mam, which is a Vietnamese dipping sauce made of fish sauce!
If you have never had Vietnamese Fish Sauce Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Cham / Nuoc Mam) before, this is a light and refreshing garlicky dipping sauce with a balance of sweet, sour, and salty flavors with the use of fish sauce, sugar, and fresh lime juice (or vinegar).
Anyone who has tried and loved nuoc cham dipping sauce will probably have a personal preference for how they like it. Some people like it sourer, others like it a little more sweet or salty and some like it super garlicky! I personally like mine slightly on the sweet and sour side with a good balance of garlic but the awesome thing about this sauce is, it is super easy to tweak to your personal preference by just adjusting the fish sauce (the salty), the lime juice/vinegar (the sour) and the sugar (the sweet).
INGREDIENTS AND SUBSTITUTIONS FOR (NUOC CHAM / NUOC MAM)
- Fish Sauce - The fish sauce is one of the main ingredients to give this sauce its umami and salty flavor. I personally like to use Squid brand fish sauce (it doesn't have squid it in, it's just in the name) because it's easy to find and it only has 3 ingredients - Anchovy, salt, and sugar. An alternative brand I like to use is Golden Boy fish sauce, which is a bit harder to find but has a much stronger and saltier flavor. Keep in mind that each fish sauce brand has a different level of saltiness, so you need to adjust the recipe to get it to the way you like it. If you are looking to make a vegetarian version of this sauce, you can use soy sauce in place of fish sauce.
- Sugar - This is one of the main ingredients that balance the sauce's sweetness. You can use honey in its place if you don't want to add sugar.
- Garlic - This sauce's main flavor comes from garlic, so you cannot skip or substitute this ingredient.
- Lime - The lime is what gives this recipe its tartness. Alternatively, you can also use white or rice vinegar, or mix a bit of vinegar with the lime juice.
- Hot Water - The water helps combine all the salty, sweet, and tart ingredients together into a more balanced level. It also helps dissolve the sugar as well.
- Chili (Optional) - Chili's give this Vietnamese dipping sauce a bit of heat. I like to use 1 birds eye chili, and that is plenty of spiciness for me without overpowering the sauce.
- Carrots (Optional) - I use shredded carrots in the sauce to give it a bit of color to make it look nicer. Carrots are optional and can be omitted.
LIME JUICE vs. VINEGAR
Whenever I make Vietnamese Fish Sauce Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Cham / Nuoc Mam), I personally like to use fresh lime juice because of the additional flavor fresh limes give it. Keep in mind, most Vietnamese dipping sauces made at restaurants usually use white vinegar or rice vinegar, mostly because it's a lot cheaper to produce. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using vinegar! From time to time I will also use vinegar when I am out of limes at home as well, but if you are looking for something closer to what you get at a restaurant, then vinegar would be the ingredient you'd want to use for the tartness. One of the main differences, I notice between using vinegar and fresh lime juice is the level of sourness and flavor. Vinegar is slightly less sour compared to fresh lime juice, and lime juice has a slight fruity lime flavor. Use what you have on hand, or what your personal preference is! If you can decide between the both, you can mix and match both vinegar and lime!
SOAK THE GARLIC IN LIME JUICE TO REDUCE THE GARLICKY SPICY BITE
If you have ever eaten anything that has raw garlic in it, you will notice that raw garlic can pack quite a punch. It has a harsher garlic flavor, as well as a spiciness to it. Depending on how much you love garlic, you can actually tone that garlickiness down a notch by soaking it in lime juice for 15 minutes before combining the rest of the ingredients to make the sauce.
I learned this neat trick through Serious Eats - How to Tame Garlic's Pungent Flavor. Ah, the beauty of food science! 🙂
This is a completely optional step. If you don't mind the spiciness and sharp bite from raw garlic then there's no need to soak the garlic in the lime juice beforehand 🙂
TIPS FOR MAKING VIETNAMESE DIPPING SAUCE
- It's important to hot water whenever you are making Vietnamese Fish Sauce Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Cham / Nuoc Mam) so that the sugar can fully dissolve and not settle to the bottom of the sauce.
- If you are using lime juice for your recipe, use fresh lime juice and not the bottled stuff, there is a big difference in flavor between the two.
HOW LONG CAN YOU STORE NUOC CHAM / NUOC MAM?
How long you can store this is highly dependent on whether you use vinegar in the sauce. If you are using only fresh lime juice, then I would not keep this for more than a week or two, but is best enjoyed fresh. If there is vinegar in it, you can keep it for about 2 months. Make sure you store it in an airtight jar in the fridge.
DIFFERENT WAYS TO USE NUOC CHAM / NUOC MAM
I like to use this stuff a lot, especially in the summertime so I like to double or triple the batch when I make it. Here are a few things you can serve this with if you have any extra dipping sauce!
- Fresh rice spring rolls/Deep-fried spring rolls - This dipping sauce goes fantastic on any type of spring roll, both fresh and deep-fried. It takes the greasiness out of deep-fried spring rolls, and it brings the freshness out of soft rice spring rolls!
- Any type of Vietnamese/Thai grilled meats - this dipping sauce cuts into the heaviness of any grilled or greasy meat dish and gives it a pop in flavor.
- Use it as a lighter alternative to peanut sauce for satay meat skewers
- Use it as a salad dressing - It's light and packed with garlicky flavor. If you're into that then definitely try it as a light vinaigrette for a salad.
- Vermicelli bowls with fresh veggies- This dipping sauce, when poured over a vermicelli bowl adds amazing umami flavors to any noodle bowl with a balance of sweet, tart, and salty pop.
- Use in on Authentic Vietnamese recipes like Banh Xeo and Banh Cuon
- ...the sky is the limit, be creative with it!
LOOKING FOR MORE VIETNAMESE RECIPES? TRY THESE!
- Bun Bo Hue (Spicy Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)
- Nem Nuong (Grilled Vietnamese Pork Sausages)
- Bo Kho (Vietnamese Beef Stew)
- Vietnamese Grilled Shrimp Vermicelli Noodle Bowl
- Quick and Easy Pickled Daikon Radish
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Vietnamese Fish Sauce Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Cham / Nuoc Mam)
INGREDIENTS
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (approximately 1 lime, or substitute with white vinegar)
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon sugar
- 6 tablespoons hot water
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- carrots (optional, for color)
- 1 fresh birds eye chili pepper (optional, for a bit of spiciness)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Peel the garlic and finely chop it. Add it to a bowl (or jar if you are making a bigger batch)
- Cut the lime in half and squeeze all the lime juice into the bowl (or jar) with the garlic and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes. The acid from the lime juice will cut the sharp garlic spicy bite.
- Once 10-15 minutes is up, add the sugar into the garlic/lime juice mix and pour in the hot water. Stir everything together until the sugar dissolves completely.
- Once the sugar has dissolved, add in the fish sauce and mix.
- Voila! Nuoc cham is done! It can be stored in the fridge or used right away! 🙂
NOTES
- I like my nuoc cham a bit on the sweeter side so that it has a sweet and sour flavor. If you prefer the sauce more sour/tangy, reduce the sugar by ½ tablespoon
- Most restaurants use vinegar instead of fresh lime juice. To get a nuoc mam closer to the restaurant-style ones, use vinegar instead of fresh lime juice. Keep in mind that fresh lime juice is slightly more tangy than vinegar and has a bit more flavor though.
- To reduce the raw bite from fresh garlic, soak the garlic in the lime juice for 10-15 minutes. The acid mellows out the garlic slightly so it has less of a spicy bite.
- This recipe can be doubled, tripled or quadrupled with no issues
- How long you can store this is highly dependent on whether you use vinegar in the sauce. If you are using only fresh lime juice, then I would not keep this for more than a week or two, but is best enjoyed fresh. If there is vinegar in it, you can keep it for about 2 months. Make sure you store it in an airtight jar in the fridge.
- If you are using lime juice for your recipe, use fresh lime juice and not the bottled stuff, there is a big difference in flavor between the two.
NUTRITION
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Brenda Kelly says
I doubled my recipe and only used 3 tbsp fish sauce. I also found it overly sweet, so would reduce the sweetness next time. Otherwise, very tasty.
Brenda says
I doubled my recipe and only used 3 tbsp fish sauce. I also found it overly sweet, so would reduce the sweetness next time. Otherwise, very tasty.
Daniela says
How long will this last in the fridge you think?
Joyce Lee says
Hi Daniela!
If you use lime juice, I would store it for no longer than 1-2 weeks, but it tastes best if you using it fresh that day. If you are using vinegar, you can probably keep it for up to 2 months in an airtight jar in the fridge.
Hope this helps!
Joyce