Clear Fish Sauce

Name: Clear Fish Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: about 1½ cups (350 ml)
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (15 ml) Rice Vinegar; 7 Tbsp nuoc mam (105 ml) Fish Sauce; 2 Tbsp sugar (25 g) Sugar; ½ cup (125 ml) Water; juice of 1 lime (30 ml) Lime Juice; 2 Tbsp carrot (20 g) Carrot; about ¼ bunch (11 g) Cilantro; 2 garlic cloves Garlic; about 2 jalapenoes (28 g) Jalapeno

Independent adaptation of a publicly published Patrick O'Connell recipe. Not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Patrick O'Connell.

DRESSING · GRILLED CHICKEN & NOODLE SALADS

In the published recipe, this is the dressing for Thai chicken.

O'Connell's clear fish sauce dressing for Thai chicken.

On the jar

CLEAR FISH

Method: shake
Yield: about 1½ cups
Ingredients: 9
Jar batch: 0.8× recipe

Add to a jar

Ratio

WATER 125 mlFISH SAUCE 105 mlLIME JUICE 30 mlRICE VINEGAR 15 ml

Ingredients

Rice Vinegar1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (15 ml)
Fish Sauce7 Tbsp nuoc mam (105 ml)
Sugar2 Tbsp sugar (25 g)
Water½ cup (125 ml)
Lime Juicejuice of 1 lime (30 ml)
Carrot2 Tbsp carrot (20 g)
Cilantroabout ¼ bunch (11 g)
Garlic2 garlic cloves
Jalapenoabout 2 jalapenoes (28 g)

Where it sits

One of 161 pan sauces in the catalog, with 9 ingredients against a median of 6.

The acid here is rice vinegar and lime juice. In this category chefs also reach for lemon juice (12 recipes), red wine vinegar (9), and white wine (8).

Method

Pour to the lines in order (bottom → top): WATER, FISH SAUCE, LIME JUICE, RICE VINEGAR.
Shake-to-line (dashed marks): add CARROT, then SUGAR. Spoon in, shake, and top up until the settled level reaches each dashed line.
Add by count: 1½ JALAPENOS.
Season to finish: CILANTRO (about 4 Tbsp), GARLIC (1½ cloves).
Cap the jar and shake until emulsified.

Get Clear Fish Sauce + 3 more sauces like it

The full recipe and its 3 closest matches, straight to your inbox. Keep them for the next time you go looking.

No spam. Just the recipes, and first word when jars ship.

Keep this recipe

Tonight you'll cook it. The jar remembers it.

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 stars · 5 national awards

Clear Fish Sauce★★★ KITCHENOn the jar: CLEAR FISH
Pad See Ew SauceNATIONAL AWARD WINNEROn the jar: PAD SEE
Dan Dan Mian SauceNATIONAL AWARD WINNEROn the jar: DAN DAN MIAN
Soy-Garlic Chinkiang Eggplant SauceNATIONAL AWARD WINNEROn the jar: SOY-GARLIC

Put it on a jar Build it as a gift ▸

$39.99 + S&H founding · first 500 · $49.99 after launch

Missed the form above? Get these recipes by email, and lock the founding price.

Provenance

Patrick O'Connell works in New American / Virginia at The Inn at Little Washington; credentials include Michelin 3* (The Inn at Little Washington); James Beard Outstanding Chef 2001.

Originally published as Clear Fish Sauce (Nuoc Mam Dressing).

Adapted from a Patrick O'Connell recipe (Patrick O'Connell / Gourmetpedia (Thai Chicken O'Connell)).

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 0.8× 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 Patrick O'Connell / Gourmetpedia (Thai Chicken O'Connell) (published as “Clear Fish Sauce (Nuoc Mam Dressing)”). Full citation lives in Provenance.

Add to a jar