This Recipe is part of the Fresh and Flavourful Vietnamese Menu
This versatile sauce enhances almost everything it touches – from grilled meats to fried fish. If you need to double the recipe to save for later use (you’ll want to once you’ve tasted it). Reduce the ginger in the sauce and add it back just before serving.
Ingredients
1-2 cloves garlic
2 Thai bird chiles or 1 serrano chile, chopped
3 tablespoons minced ginger
3 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup fish sauce
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons water
Directions
1. Place the garlic, chiles, ginger and sugar in a mortar and pound into a paste.
2. Transfer to a small mixing bowl and stir in the fish sauce, lime juice, and water. Let it sit for 15 minutes before serving.
Makes 1 cup
Excerpted from The Flavors of Asia by Mai Pham. Copyright © 2009 by The Culinary Institute of America. Excerpted by permission of DK Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Buy the book now.