Fish Sauce Recipe

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4.79 from 19 votes

A secret family recipe

Prep Time5

Mellowing time25

Total Time30

Course: sauce

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Keyword: fish sauce

Servings:

Calories: 33kcal

Equipment

mortar and pestle

Ingredients

2 tbsp sugar or less if you prefer it less sweet
2-4 Thai bird’s eye chili sliced, more or less depending on your spice tolerance
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 tbsp fish sauce mam nhi preferred, such as red boat
1.5-2 tbsp lime juice depending on taste
2/3 cup water see notes

Instructions

In a mortar in pestle, crush sugar, garlic, and half the Thai chilies.
Transfer to a jar, then add fish sauce. Add 1/2 lime and water. Taste and add lime as needed. Finish with remaining Thai chilies.
Let mellow in the fridge for about 30 minutes before enjoying. Keeps in the fridge for up to a month.

Notes

The amount of water depends on your intended use. For dipping salad rolls, go with 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup water. For vermicelli bowls, go with 2-3 cup to 1 cup water.

For Ginger Fish sauce, use 1 tbsp grated/diced/crushed ginger (about 3/4” of ginger), 3 tbsp sugar, 4 cloves of garlic, 2 tbsp fish sauce, 1-2 thai chilis (optional as the ginger is quite spicy itself), and 1 cup water. Then just follow the steps above.

Nutrition