Nuoc Cham chay- Spicy Garlic Soy Sauce

Nuoc Cham Chay- Spicy garlic soy sauce (bottom right corner)

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.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 garlic cloves mashed and minced

• 1 tbs rice vinegar

• 1 1/2 tsp sugar (if you like it sweeter like some restaurants you can add up to 3 tsp of sugar here but I prefer it on the saltier, more savory side)

• 2 thai red chili peppers finely diagonally chopped.

• 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

• 1/2 cup filtered or distilled water

• 1 1/2 tsp fresh squeezed lime juice (optional- I didn’t see this in most recipes but the original fish sauce has lime and I like this added citrus to it because it makes it taste more familiar to Nuoc Mam Cham. You can bump up to 2-3 tsp of lime juice if you like your dip more citrus’y).

PREPARATION:

1. Mix all contents in a cup or bowl and mix until all dissolved.

2. Refrigerate and store in Tupperware or glass jar