My Favorite Vietnamese Dipping Sauces and Condiments
Whenever you go to an authentic Vietnamese restaurant they always have a plethora of side dipping sauces like a fish dipping sauce (nuoc mam cham), scallion oil (mo hanh), fermented mustard greens (du chua) or even vegetarian dipping sauces if you’re lucky! They compliment, and are a staple in creating many Vietnamese dishes. Below are a few of my favorite staples which you’ll see served with many of my concoctions to follow!
Credits: Shop local- Cotton towels from Utilitario Mexicano, small ceramic dipping bowls Mud Australia bowls from @ Bluecashew Kitchen Homestead.
Starting from the bowl at 12 o’clock and working my way clock ways:
1- Vietnamese Scallions & Oil Garnish Recipe-Mỡ Hành
This simple garnish is simply made with lightly fried green scallions and is often served with traditional Vietnamese dishes like sườn nướng- pork chops, thịt nướng- grilled pork, bánh bèo, bún chả giò- egg rolls with noodles.
2- Vietnamese Cilantro Chile Sauce- Nuoc Mam Ngo
This sauce is like the perfect balance of sour, sweetness, herby, salty, and a subtle amount of fishy funk. It’s perfect for grilled meets and as a condiment for egg rolls, summer rolls and rice vermicelli noodles.
3- Nuoc Cham chay- Vietnamese Spicy Garlic Soy Sauce
So you might recognize that the title looks similar to Nuoc Mam Cham (a Vietnamese salty fish dipping sauce). This is basically its vegan sister, Nuoc Cham Chay. Chay means vegetarian so this sauce is loosely translated as vegetarian dipping sauce. You can use this in substitution to any dish requiring a fish sauce/nuoc mam dipping sauce!
This also has an amazing savory and acidic taste so it pairs perfectly with dumplings, pot stickers, wontons, and is the perfect dipping sauce for spicing up plain blanched vegetables.
4- Ot Ngam Giam- Pickled Jalepenos
5- Nuoc Mam Cham- Traditional Vietnamese Fish Dipping Sauce
Nuoc Mam Cham, simply translated equates to fermented fish dipping sauce. This traditional fish sauce is a bright/citrusy/and semi-sweet and fishy dipping sauce is widely used in many Vietnamese dishes. This subtly fishy dipping sauce is made from a blend of fermented fish sauce, water, sugar, and citrus. Below is my mom’s special blend and concoction!
6- Fermented Pickled Mustard Greens
Growing up my dad used to make these pickled mustard greens all the time. In Vietnamese culture we would have these pickled sour things to accompany very salty meats. I never really realized but we ate these when we were kids so I guess my fermented infatuation started off very young!
7- (center photo): Pickled Daikon & Carrots “Du Chua”
Another classic family favorite, Du Chua, which adds that pickled sour and sweet crunch to the infamous Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwich 🥪 (see recipe for sandwich -here-) and used as a side or condiment for a bunch of other dishes.
My parents don’t actually have a recipe for this- they do it all just by taste so I had to get a couple pointers from my parents and from two of my favorite restaurant and chefs, @kiennyc (owner of Co Ba in NYC) and theTop Chef himself Hung Huynh.