Fish Sauce Dip (Nuoc Mam Cham)

What was I thinking not having this as the first recipe ever? In Vietnamese cooking, nuoc mam cham is like gold. In every Vietnamese's household you can find a bottle of this sauce in the refrigerator. This sauce is versatile and used either as an ingredient or as a dipping sauce in multiple recipes. Make yourself a batch, refrigerate it, and serve it as a dipping sauce for your meat and veggies served with a hot bowl of rice.

Ingredients

1 cup water

1 ½ Tbs rice vinegar

4 Tbs lime juice (~ 3 limes)

2 Tbs sugar

1 red chili, seeded, chopped finely (optional)

4 garlic cloves

¼ cup fish sauce

⅛ cup carrot, finely shredded

Directions

1. In a saucepan, bring water, vinegar, and sugar to a boil. When sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and allow to cool.

2. In a mortar, place garlic cloves, lime juice, and red chili. Crush into a paste and add to liquid mixture. Stir in fish sauce.

(Optional: You can also add chili garlic sauce if you want more kick to your sauce.)

3. Garnish with carrots.

Nuoc mam can be stored in the refrigerator