This very easy to make dipping sauce is a staple in Vietnamese cooking. Use it for a dip with freshly made Salad Rolls, as a sauce on Vermicelli bowls or as a dressing on salads. Nuoc Cham has all the flavour you need and only uses 5 ingredients!
Nuoc Cham - Vietnamese Sauce/Dip
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 Tbsp Sugar
- 1 Garlic Clove, minced
- 3 Tbsp Fish Sauce
- 1 tsp Chili Sauce, Sambal
- 1 Tbsp Lime Juice
Instructions
- In a small saucepan heat water, garlic, and sugar to a boil. Take off heat and let cool.
- When mixture reaches room temperature add fish sauce, chili sauce and lime juice.
- Place in fridge until ready to eat.
Notes
Nuoc cham will last up to 4 months in an airtight container.
What is Nuoc Cham?
Nuoc Cham is a simple Vietnamese sauce which is mainly used for vermicelli bowls, salad and spring rolls. The components of the sauce are sweet, salty, spicy and acidic, balanced so perfectly that not one of the ingredients overpower the others.
What ingredients are in Nuoc Cham?
- Fish Sauce
- Cane/Palm Sugar
- Lime Juice
- Garlic
- Chili
Substitutions
Because of the short list of ingredients, there aren’t many substitutions for this recipe. Basically you want to get the sweet, salty, spicy and acidic flavours perfectly balanced.
Chili Paste – Use whole red chilis. The more you use the spicier it will be. Also, if you don’t like spice, you can omit this entirely, but you will get a very different flavour.
Cane Sugar – Use white sugar.
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