I noted this sauce – Nuoc Cham – last week on buzzyfoods facebook page. I hadn’t set out to make a version of an incredibly common – and customizable – condiment from Vietnam; but I had found a recipe in a magazine for Vietnamese BBQ, and found myself in need of this sauce.
I chose this recipe – found on sundaynitedinner.com – because I already had most of the ingredients on hand; tho’ my sauce looks a bit ruddier than the example they show, mebbe it’s the pepper.
INGREDIENTS
•1/2 cup sugar
•1 cup warm water
•1/2 cup fish sauce
•1/4 cup white vinegar
•1/2 of a lime, juiced
•3-4 cloves of garlic , minced
•2-3 Thai chili peppers, minced – I used 1 tsp Aleppo pepper
Note: I went ahead and added 1 teaspoon of good ground ginger to make nuoc cham gung, which is traditionally made by adding 1 tablespoon of fresh minced.
Add the water and sugar to a pint mason jar and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Add the fish sauce, vinegar, and lime juice; you can add more or less of these to suit your personal taste, and some folk add more sugar… hmmm, I wonder how a simple syrup would work?
Add the garlic, peppers, and ginger, if you’re using it, stir to combine, then cover and stash in the fridge. Sundaynitedinner says this makes about 2-1/2 cups, but I got a (very) full pint jar – mebbe, again, it was the pepper.
So, dipping sauce made, what’s to dip it in?
How about vietnamese barbecue tacos? Tho’, ermmm, I also added some plum sauce.
Check it out, tomorrow…