Nam Jim Sauce (Simple Thai dipping sauce)
Thai Nam Jim Sauce is spicy, sour, and a little sweet. Best with seafood, but it goes well with most protein and veggies
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.
Notes
(NOTE 1) 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.
(NOTE 2) 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.
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.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 ServingCalories: 47kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 1gFat: 0.2gSaturated Fat: 0.02gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.01gSodium: 656mgPotassium: 155mgFiber: 2gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 427IUVitamin C: 56mgCalcium: 14mgIron: 0.5mg