Nuoc Mam Cham – Vietnamese fish sauce

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 small chili pepper(s)
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 4 tbsp fish sauce, Vietnamese (nước mắm)
• 8 tbsp water, hot
• 1 lime(s)
• 1 pinch(s) of pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Rest time approx. 6 hours; Total time approx. 6 hours 15 minutes

Perfect dip for spring rolls, wontons or cabbage pancakes

Finely chop the garlic and chili pepper, place them in a mortar, and grind them with the sugar into a paste. Add a generous pinch of pepper, the water, the juice of one squeezed lime, and the fish sauce, and mix everything well until the sugar has completely dissolved. Let the sauce steep for a few more hours. Adjust the amount of chili to your taste. The original is quite spicy, so if you don’t like it that much, use only half a small pepper. Fish sauce is available at any Asian market and is simply called “fish sauce” or “nuoc mam.” The finished sauce tastes great with any kind of spring roll, wonton, Japanese cabbage pancakes, etc.