Thai Nam Jim Sauce is spicy, sour, and a little sweet. Best with seafood, but it goes well with most protein and veggies
Nam Jim Sauce goes with almost everything!
Nam (or Nahm) Jim Sauce goes wonderfully with fresh seafood, but it also goes really well on grilled beef or vegetables. If you’re crazy about Thai flavours, then you’re going to fall madly in love with this punchy sauce!
This Thai dipping sauce is simple with only a few ingredients required. However, there isn’t anything simple about the taste of this flavourful sauce. It’s intense with spicy, sour, salty and slightly sweet flavours.
A very popular sauce that you’ll find served in most Thai restaurants. To make Nam Jim Sauce, we just need lots of garlic, chillies, palm sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, and coriander. Then, take your frustrations out by pounding everything together!
You could actually make a super fast version by placing all the ingredients in a powerful blender or processor, but I prefer using a mortar and pestle. Trust me, I’m a lazy cook and I would usually reach for my mini processor for almost everything! However, I just love the consistency and the taste of the sauce is much better when using the traditional mortar and pestle.
My favourite way of having Nam Jim Sauce is with fresh seafood. In Thailand, I would pick from fresh clams and prawns displayed on ice in front of the restaurant and they would simply steam or boil them for me. When my dish came out, they served it with a trio of dipping sauces, which included Nam Jim Sauce. So simple, but yet something I would choose over many other dishes! I’m actually salivating, thinking about it.
A hilarious story involving Thailand & seaweed
Do you have a memory that makes you laugh uncontrollably when you think about it? I have plenty because I’m easily amused by silly things. I often tell this story to our friends and my hubby, Tomi, would roll his eyes. Don’t worry, he has his own embarrassing stories of me he loves to share, too.
Tomi and I were on holiday in Phuket, when my lovely friend Nina from Thailand organised a private yacht to take us on this beautiful sunset ride for 4 hours.
Unfortunately for me, I am one of those people that suffer from nausea easily. So the first hour of the trip killed me because all I wanted to do was barf. The staff on the yacht was very accommodating and encouraged me to stick my head over the ocean and vomit anytime I like. Thank goodness, I didn’t have to resort to that and felt better.
We had the most amazing and memorable experience. Everything was just beautiful. Here’s the part that cracks me up.
When it was time to leave the yacht, we had to step over a little wooden plank to get onto the beach. Tomi somehow lost his balance and fell face down onto the muddy sand with his backpack attached. Everyone rushes over to check on him.
Tomi alarmed all of us when he shrieked in panic
‘There’s blood all over my toes! OMG, I’m bleeding!’ We all bent down to examine his wound, only to see dirt and seaweed stuck between his toes, but no sign of bleeding. I lost it completely and roared with laughter, ‘That’s just seaweed, silly!’ I managed to say through tears.
Nina looked over at me. She was trying her hardest to contain her laughter, but also lost the battle. It wasn’t just the seaweed that made this whole situation hilarious though; it was how he fell. When he lost his balance on the plank, he fell so cleanly. Most people would have their arms up or try to steady themselves, but he just plonked face down into the muddy sand, like a piece of timber.
I promise I’m not one of those obnoxious people that laugh at people tripping. It’s funny because Tomi was fine. The only thing that was bruised was his ego!
Craving some homemade Thai? We got you covered!:
Ingredients for Nam Jim Sauce
Palm sugar – Palm sugar is made from the sap of the coconut palm tree, so there’s no need to harvest the tree, which means it’s sustainable. There are light and dark varieties stocked in supermarkets and Asian grocers. Any is fine, however, make sure it’s 100% palm sugar for that original caramel taste. For this recipe, you could also swap palm sugar with equal amounts of white or firmly packed brown sugar.
Fish sauce – My favourite brand is Thai ‘Squid’ fish sauce, but any brand of fish sauce would work. Fish sauce is pungent with an intense fish smell, but it adds a unique salty savoury flavour to dishes. Supermarkets usually stock their fish sauce in the International section or purchase a bottle at an Asian grocer.
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How to make Nam Jim Sauce
Step-by-step guide with photos
In a large mortar and pestle, place in the garlic and all the chillies, then pound for 2 minutes. Add the coriander and continue to pound until a paste forms.
Add in the palm sugar, and pound until it’s combined into the paste. Pour in the lime juice and fish sauce, then stir well using the pestle. Have a taste of the sauce and adjust it to your liking by adding more sugar, lime juice, or fish sauce if needed.
Leftovers – Transfer them into a sealed container and store them in the fridge for up to 3 days.
I’ve used a third-party application to calculate the calories and nutritional information, so please use this as an approximate guide only.
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements. For specific details and conversions, visit our Australian Cooking Measurements page.
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Cheers – Cat T
Nam Jim Sauce (Simple Thai dipping sauce)
Video
Ingredients
- 7 garlic cloves
- 6 small red chillies (Thai or Bird's eye)
- 6 small green chillies
- 6 coriander/cilantro stalks and leaves (roughly chopped)
- 40gm / 1.5oz palm sugar (or 2 tbsp white sugar/ firmly packed brown sugar) (NOTE 1)
- 5 tbsp lime juice
- 3 tbsp fish sauce (NOTE 2)
Instructions
- In a large mortar and pestle, place in the garlic and all the chillies, then pound for 2 minutes. Add the coriander and continue to pound until a paste forms.
- Add in the palm sugar, and pound until it's combined into the paste. Pour in the lime juice and fish sauce, then stir well using the pestle. Have a taste of the sauce and adjust it to your liking by adding more sugar, lime juice, or fish sauce if needed.
A burst of flavors with a strong spicy kick. This recipe is legit and I totally vouch for it, thanks Catalina
Hi Parker,
Really appreciate your kind words! I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed one of my favourite dipping sauces! It’s always satisfying to share something I love and have others appreciate it as well.