Nước Chấm in Vietnamese Food

Nước chấm, pronounced nuk kam in English, is one of the most common things you’ll find across Vietnam. When I was there, I found it everywhere I went. This is served to dip things like spring rolls in, or as a condiment to serve alongside a variety of rice and noodle dishes.

Nước chấm really ins’t actually one sauce, but a collection of a few dipping sauces. In this recipe, we are making nước mắm pha. This is a simple sauce made from fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, salt and water. The sauce is then finished off with some fresh chilli and garlic. This gives it some heat and a little bit more fragrance.

There are a few other varieties, depending on the region. Some regions add grated or minced carrot etc. The sauce tends to be strnger in Central Vietnam, and in South Vietnam they often use palm sugar and/or coconut water to sweeten it. It’s worth reading about the other varieties and giving them a go!

To me, this sauce is such a reminder of the great food I had in Vietnam and the amazing experiences I had there. I like to use this as a salad dressing, as in my Vietnamese inspired steak salad. This can be easily pulled together as a great dipping sauce for prawn crackers, or anything like spring rolls or dumplings.