Recipe: Vietnamese Dipping Sauces

Vietnamese Dipping Sauces

Nuoc Mam Cham
Fish Sauce Dip

1/4 cup water or fresh coconut juice
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 red chill, seeded, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce

Boil water or coconut juice with vinegar and sugar; allow to cool. Combine chili, garlic, and lime juice, and add to the coconut mixture. Stir in the fish sauce.

Try adding shredded radish and carrot pickles as a variation on Nuoc Mam Cham.

Nuoc Tuong Toi Ot
Soy Sauce Dip

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon pepper
1 medium red chili, finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped peanuts (optional)
1 lime, cut into wedges and squeezed

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Add a squeeze of fresh lime to taste.

Sot Chua Ngot
Sweet and Sour Sauce

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoons sliced shallots
2 pickled shallots, sliced
1 small carrot, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
1 medium red chili, diced
2 tablespoons sugar
Salt, pepper
1 teaspoon Tomato Sauce
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
mixed with a teaspoon of water

Sauté garlic in oil until slightly colored. Add sliced shallots, pickled shallots, carrot, green bell pepper, chili, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Keep frying, add Tomato Sauce and vinegar. Bring combination to a boil add cornstarch mixture. Reduce heat stir and simmer for 1 minute.

Sot Ca Chua
Tomato Sauce

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 medium tomatoes, peeled,
seeded and finely chopped
1 cup chicken stock or fresh coconut juice
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Sauté garlic in oil until slightly browned. Add tomatoes, then stir for 5 minutes, adding stock or coconut juice. Bring to a boil, add a small amount of water. Mix thoroughly, reduce heat, then season to taste with salt and sugar. Simmer until reduced by one-third or until desired thickness is achieved.

Buy the Book!

The Food of Vietnam
Authentic Recipes from the Heart of Indochina
By Trieu Thi Choi and Marcell Isaak
Periplus Editions
Hardback, $16.95
ISBN: 962-593-394-8
Recipe Reprinted by permission.