Basic Dipping Sauce
Every Vietnamese cook makes this dipping sauce, with the differences among them reflecting personal preferences and regional variations. In general, as you move south the sauce gets sweeter, hotter, and more garlicky. Yet no matter exactly how it is made, its role is always the same: to enhance and unify all the elements of a dish. As with much of Viet cooking, parameters apply more than rules. This recipe will help you develop your own version. Sensing subtle distinctions between sour, sweet, salty, and spicy requires practice. Plus, fish sauces differ, and even lime juice can be inconsistent. To deal with these variables, I don’t mix everything together at once, but rather break up the process to simplify matters for the taste buds. This allows for adjustments along the way. While you may omit the rice vinegar, it actually brightens the flavors and softens any harsh or bitter edges contributed by the lime juice. The garlic is optional; some recipes will suggest including or excluding it.
When using both garlic and chiles in the sauce, try pounding them together with a pinch of sugar in a mortar. This quickly releases their oils (helpful if you are in a hurry) and gives the sauce an appealing orange cast.
Recipe information
Yield
makes about 1 1/2 cups
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, vinegar, sugar, and water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Taste and adjust the flavors to balance the sweet and sour as needed.
Step 2
Add the fish sauce, starting out with 5 tablespoons and then adding more as your palate dictates, balancing the sour, sweet, and salty. How much fish sauce you use depends on the brand and your own taste. Aim for a light honey or amber color and a bold, forward finish. Keep in mind that this sauce is typically used to dress dishes that include unsalted ingredients like lettuce and herbs—ingredients that will need an extra flavor lift. When you’re satisfied, add the chiles and garlic. (If diners are sensitive to chile heat, serve the chiles on the side.)
Step 3
Put the sauce on the table so that diners can serve themselves, or portion it out in advance for serving. It may be prepared early in the day and left at room temperature until serving.
Sizing Up Dipping Sauce Dishes
Step 4
Small, cute dishes are good for plunging little morsels of food into sauce. But if you are dunking a bundle of food wrapped in lettuce or a hand roll, you need shallow bowls three to four inches in diameter.
Buying and Juicing Limes
Step 5
Look for limes with smooth skins. They are juicier and easier to work with than fruits with dimpled, tough skins. Before juicing, use your palm to roll the limes back and forth on a firm work surface. This breaks down the membranes, which allows you to extract the maximum amount of juice from the fruit. Because I like pulp in my sauces, I use an old-fashioned handheld reamer for juicing. If your juicer filters out the pulp, start with a scant measurement of what is called for in a recipe, as you won’t be working with the extra bulk contributed by the pulp. You can always add more juice when making final adjustments.
