Thai Dipping Sauce for Meat (Nam Jim Jaew)
This is Thai people's #1 go-to sauce for meat; especially grilled and barbecued meats. Works great on beef, pork, chicken and firmer fish such as salmon.
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 5 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1 Tbsp jasmine rice or glutinous rice (uncooked)
- 2 Tbsp tamarind paste ((see note 1))
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- 1 Tbsp palm sugar (finely chopped, packed)
- 2 Tbsp finely diced shallots
- 1 tsp toasted chili flakes (or to taste (see note 2))
- 3 Tbsp chopped herbs such as cilantro, green onions, mint, or sawtooth coriander
- 1 Tbsp jasmine rice or glutinous rice (uncooked)
- 2 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1 1/2 Tbsp lime juice
- 1 Tbsp tamarind paste (or sub another ½ Tbsp lime (see note 1))
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp toasted chili flakes (or to taste (see note 2))
- 2 Tbsp minced shallots
- 3 Tbsp chopped herbs such as cilantro, green onions, mint, or sawtooth coriander
- 1 recipe All-Purpose Nam Jim Jaew (from above)
- ⅓ cup small diced juicy tomatoes
Instructions
- 1
Make the toasted rice powder by adding the raw rice into a small dry skillet over medium high heat. Stir constantly until the grains are dark brown (it may get a bit smokey). Remove from the pan immediately to stop the toasting, and grind into a powder using a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder.
- 2
In a small bowl, combine the tamarind paste, fish sauce, lime juice and sugar; stir until the sugar is mostly dissolved. *If using chopped palm sugar, any stubborn chunks that won't dissolve after a good stirring should dissolve in 5 minutes or so as they sit in the liquid. So no need to worry about them unless you're serving it immediately; in which case you can warm it up in the microwave briefly (5-8 seconds) to help the final bits of sugar dissolve. Smashing the chunks with a spoon will also help.
- 3
Add the shallots and chili flakes and stir to mix.
- 4
Close to serving time, add the toasted rice powder and all of the fresh herbs; stir to mix.
- 5
Make the all-purpose jaew as per instructions above, and stir in the diced tomatoes along with the fresh herbs. If you can, let it sit for a few minutes before serving to allow flavours to mingle.