Nuoc Cham Dipping Sauce

Name: Nuoc Cham Dipping Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: about 3 cups (710 ml)
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: about 2½ serranoes (15 g) Serrano; about 1 habanero (8 g) Habanero; 2 garlic cloves, sliced Garlic; 1½ cups sugar (360 ml) Sugar; 1½ cups warm water (360 ml) Water; 4 Tbsp lime juice (60 ml) Lime Juice; 2 Tbsp rice vinegar (30 ml) Rice Vinegar; 1 cup + 2 Tbsp fish sauce (270 ml) Fish Sauce; 60 g Carrot

Independent adaptation of a publicly published Norman Van Aken recipe. Not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Norman Van Aken.

DIP · SPRING ROLLS & VIETNAMESE DISHES

In the published recipe, this is the dip for spring rolls.

Van Aken's nuoc cham for spring rolls.

On the jar

NUOC CHAM

Method: shake
Yield: about 3 cups
Ingredients: 9
Jar batch: 0.3× recipe

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Ratio

WATER 360 mlFISH SAUCE 270 mlLIME JUICE 60 ml

Ingredients

Serranoabout 2½ serranoes (15 g)
Habaneroabout 1 habanero (8 g)
Garlic2 garlic cloves, sliced
Sugar1½ cups sugar (360 ml)
Water1½ cups warm water (360 ml)
Lime Juice4 Tbsp lime juice (60 ml)
Rice Vinegar2 Tbsp rice vinegar (30 ml)
Fish Sauce1 cup + 2 Tbsp fish sauce (270 ml)
Carrot60 g

Where it sits

One of 50 dips in the catalog, with 9 ingredients against a median of 7.

The acid here is lime juice and rice vinegar. In this category chefs also reach for lemon juice (14 recipes), white wine vinegar (2), and malt vinegar (1).

Method

Pour to the lines in order (bottom → top): WATER, FISH SAUCE, LIME JUICE.
Shake-to-line (dashed marks): add SUGAR. Spoon in, shake, and top up until the settled level reaches each dashed line.
Add by count: ¼ CARROT.
Season to finish: SERRANO (¼ serrano), HABANERO (¼ habanero), GARLIC (½ clove), RICE VINEGAR (about 1½ tsp).
Cap the jar and shake until emulsified.

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You found this recipe once. On a PantryFlex jar it's printed in glass. Pour your pantry to the line, shake, done. No phone propped at the stove.

4 kitchens · 3 national awards

Nuoc Cham Dipping SauceNATIONAL AWARD WINNEROn the jar: NUOC CHAM
Tuk Cham LorkCHAMPION CHEFOn the jar: TUK CHAM
Hot Pepper EssenceNATIONAL AWARD WINNEROn the jar: HOT PEPPER
Fermented Chilli DipNATIONAL AWARD WINNEROn the jar: FERMENTED

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Provenance

Norman Van Aken works in New World / Floribbean at Norman's; credentials include James Beard Best Chef: Southeast 1997 (Norman's).

Originally published as Nuoc Cham (Spring-Roll Dip).

Adapted from a Norman Van Aken recipe (Norman Van Aken / WLRN A Word On Food).

FAQ

Can this go in a shake jar?

Yes. Its liquids pour to printed fill-lines, so it can be one of the sauces on a PantryFlex jar.

What do the quantities mean?

This page lists the published recipe in household units (with metric in parentheses). A PantryFlex jar makes a 0.3× batch of it. The jar's printed lines, counts, and QR guide are already scaled to match, so follow the jar or this page, not a mix of both. Amounts in the jar’s ADD row are rounded to the nearest common spoon measure (T = tablespoon, t = teaspoon) so they can be read off the glass.

Where did this recipe come from?

Adapted from Norman Van Aken / WLRN A Word On Food (published as “Nuoc Cham (Spring-Roll Dip)”). Full citation lives in Provenance.

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