Nước Chấm (Vietnamese Dipping Sauce)

sweet, sour, salty fish sauce dip

Makes 1.75 cups · 17 kcal per serving

Ingredients

• 60 g Fish Sauce
• 240 g Water
• 60 g White Sugar
• 48 g Lime Juice
• 4.8 g Garlic
• 3 g Thai Chile

Method

1. Stir the sugar into the warm water until it fully dissolves, then stir in the fish sauce and lime juice. Add the garlic and chile last so they float rather than sink. Taste and push it toward whichever corner it needs: more lime for sharpness, more sugar to round it, more water to soften the whole thing. It should be drinkable, not intense; this gets spooned over, not dabbed on.
2. Keeps about a week refrigerated, though the garlic sharpens with time.