New Kitchen Special : Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese Dressing)

Add serious Southeast Asian flair to any salad or Buddha bowl with nuoc cham, the easy, no-cook sauce of Vietnam found in every meal!

Properly speaking, you only need 4 ingredients to kickstart a nuoc cham! Just make sure you have some fish sauce in the pantry. A little fish sauce goes a long way, but you’ll always find a use for it, in both cooked, uncooked, vegetarian, and meat dishes!

Essentially, it replaces soy sauce in this recipe, lending a more complex, fishy, sweet, and slightly sour taste that can’t be replaced! You’ll find it all throughout Vietnamese, Laotian, and Thai cuisines.

fish sauce for Vietnamese buddha bowl — Try one of my favorites, Three Crabs Fish Sauce!

Here are the essential ingredients for Nuoc Cham:

Really, that’s it!

With just 4 ingredients, you’re off to the races, but if you wanna stop and bring in some spicy intrigue, definitely try the classic additions of minced Thai chiles (or any fresh hot chiles you have), and a few tablespoons of shredded carrots and daikon radish.

Rice bowls, salads, and grilled meats everywhere will be thanking you.

With the extra veggies, you’ll end up with something a little like this!

Additionally, feel free to substitute most of the lime juice with rice vinegar, if desired. I like Mizkan brand unseasoned rice vinegar.

However spicy or vinegary you decide to make it, this staple Vietnamese dressing is ready to enjoy.

Because garlic, lime, and chiles are fresh ingredients, you’ll want to use this within 2-4 days. There’s gonna be so much dipping action going on, you’ll probably be whipping up a new batch in no time anyway.