Vietnamese ginger fish sauce (Nuoc Mam Gung) is made from mixing together fish sauce, sugar, lemon/lime juice, garlic and ginger. It’s sweet, sour and spicy with a nice zing from freshly grated ginger, making it the perfect dipping sauce for poached chicken, duck and grilled seafood.

Ginger Fish Sauce Ingredients: Lemon, garlic, chili peppers, ginger, fish sauce and sugar

The secret to making this sauce amazing is smashing the garlic and ginger so that they release all their aroma. I like to use a mortar and pestle to grind the garlic and ginger into a paste. Alternatively, you can use a garlic press or a microplane grater for both ginger and garlic. If you don’t have these kitchen tools, you can simply smash ginger and garlic with the backside of a large cleaver/knife repeatedly until it forms a paste.

Chicken Rice (Com Ga) with Ginger Fish Sauce

I like my Nuoc Mang Gung on the thick side so I do not add water and coconut juice, unlike in my basic fish sauce dipping sauce (Nuoc Mam Cham). The only liquids in this sauce are fish sauce and lemon/lime juice. The thicker consistency helps the sauce clings onto whatever protein is being dipped. Plus, it’s the only flavoring the protein has (most are usually poached or grilled) so the more concentrated the flavor, the better.

You can make this sauce in advance but only add garlic and ginger right before serving. This way, you get the freshest taste. Plus, adding garlic and ginger right before serving also prevents the aromatics from getting water-lodged and sinking to the bottom, which doesn’t look too appetizing.

Chicken Rice (Com Ga) with Ginger Fish Sauce

Nuoc Mam Gung is a must-have for Vietnamese Ginger Chicken Rice (Com Ga) and Vietnamese Duck Noodle Soup with Bamboo Shoots (Bun Mang Vit). Without it, these two dishes are incomplete and not worth eating! Yes, it’s that serious.

Vietnamese Ginger Fish Sauce

Makes 1 cup

Ingredients

1/4 cup fish sauce
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
2-inch piece fresh ginger (peel and thinly slice against the grain)
5 garlic cloves (peel)
Juice of half a large lemon/lime
1-2 red chili peppers (slice thin; remove seeds to reduce heat if needed)

Instructions

In a medium bowl, mix together fish sauce and sugar until completely dissolved.
Pound ginger and garlic cloves with a mortar and pestle until completely pulverized. Alternatively, run both through a garlic press or smash with the back of a large knife. Add smashed ginger and garlic to the fish sauce/sugar mixture.
Add lime juice and chili peppers. Stir to combine.

Poached Chicken with Ginger Fish Sauce

OTHER VIETNAMESE CONDIMENTS/SAUCES

Vietnamese Ginger Fish Sauce (Nuoc Mam Gung)

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Unlike other pickled jalapenos, these jalapenos are crunchy and fresh tasting, even after one month in the fridge. Like most Vietnamese pickling, this method doesn’t involve a hot water bath that cooks the vegetables. Therefore, it doesn’t last an eternity. However what lacks in perishability, makes up in the taste. These pickled jalapenos have the perfect balance between spicy, sweet and sour. Best of all, they have a crispy texture that you won’t find in any store-bought pickled jalapenos.

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Pot Sticker Soy Dipping Sauce

Store-bought potsticker dipping sauce is the worst. I finally came up with a homemade version that I absolutely love! Not only is this soy dipping sauce great for pot stickers, it is also great for dipping vegetables.

Vietnamese Caramel Cooking Sauce (Nuoc Mau)

Vietnamese Caramel Sauce (Nước Màu) is not a sauce you put on ice cream or an ingredient you use in baking. It's not even sweet. In fact, it's bitter. Vietnamese caramel sauce is used in many Vietnamese savory caramelized dishes (Món An Khô). Its purpose is to color meat to make it more appetizing.

Fried Pork Fat (Tep Mo)

If you are lucky enough to have an Asian supermarket around you, you may be able to get free pork fat from the butcher in the back. If not, you can use fat from a big slab of pork belly or gather up pork fat from pork trimmings and make your own. It’s a delicious topping in noodle soups!

Vietnamese Fermented Anchovy Dipping Sauce (Mam Nem)

Mắm Nêm is a very pungent Vietnamese sauce made with fermented anchovy, crushed pineapples, sugar, lemon juice, Thai chili pepper, lemongrass and garlic. It is a hard-core alternative to wherever the more widely known Vietnamese Fish Sauce Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Mam Cham) is used, and best alongside beef dishes as in Vietnamese Lemongrass Grilled Beef (Bo Nuong Vi).

Raw Oysters with Asian Mignonette Sauce

A mignonette sauce is a condiment for raw oysters on the half shell. There are many wonderful variations but the basic ingredients in a mignonette sauce are vinegar, shallots and pepper. Here is an Asian take on the classic mignonette sauce.