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Garlic, Chili and Fish Sauce (Nuoc Cham)

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Photo by su-lin/flickr
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Photo by su-lin/flickr

A Vietnamese favorite, this dipping sauce combines sweet, sour and hot flavors.

Ingredients

2 ripe red chilies
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon sugar
1 lemon
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon water
4 tablespoons fish sauce

Directions

Cut off stalks from chilies, split down the centre and remove seeds and centre membrane. Cut into pieces, and pound using a mortar and pestle* together with peeled garlic. Add sugar. Peel lemon, removing all the white pith. Slice and remove seeds. Add a small piece at a time to the chillies and pound to a pulp. Stir in the vinegar, water and fish sauce. Serve in a small bowl and use in small quantities.

* A blender may be used instead of a mortar and pestle, but this aerates the sauce.


Recipe excerpted from Encyclopedia of Asian Food by Charmaine Solomon (Periplus Editions, 1998)

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