How do I make the fish sauce used on Vietnamese Rice Noodles. Or can I buy the sauce already made?

Question

I love Vietnamese rice noodle bowls, but I don't know how to make the fish sauce you pour on the noodles. I tried it once and it was a disaster! Or can I buy it already made? I've checked an Asian food store for it, but I have no idea what it's called. Please Help!

Answer 1

Here it is:
The sauce you are talking about is some sort of dipping sauce called nước chấm or nước mắm chấm (chấm=dipping). Nước mắm is pure fish sauce and it comes in a bottle. Make sure to buy only fish sauce from either Thailand or Vietnam. To make nước chấm, first dilute nước mắm with water (1 part of fish sauce, 2 parts of water), dissolve a little sugar in it, add a few drops of lime juice and smashed (or chopped) chili pepper and chopped garlic (if preferred).
You can buy pre-made nước chấm from Vietnam at import stores but I've never done that and don't know how good (or bad) it is.

Answer 2

-I love this sauce -- it is used in Asia instead of salt. You can add it to stews and other western dishes to give a subtle flavour. Chop fresh chile peppers into it and sprinkle on rice dishes to give them a kick.

If you can't find the sauce under its Vietnamese name, look for it under its Thai name, Nam Pla.

Major supermarkets will sell it -- maybe labelled as Thai/Vietnamese Fish Sauce -- but it is considerably cheaper in Asian food stores.

You don't really want to make it at home, but if you do, the basic idea is to take a catch of anchovies or similar small fish, mix with 3 times as much salt, put them in a closed container, leave it out in the sun for a year or more to decompose, opeining every now and again, then pour out the remaining liquid. That is the sauce .

Answer 3

The sauce is nuoc mam and is available at any Asian market.

This is the traditional fish sauce but I doubt it would be used directly as a sauce on noodles. It is very strong and is used as one of many ingredients.

Answer 4

I think the name of the sauce is (incorrect spelling) nuk nam. Try a store that sells traditional VietNamese foods.

Answer 5

It's very difficult to find the light, clear fish sauce you need to make Nuoc Cham. And if you do find it, it's ridiculously expensive.

It tastes NOTHING like the dark fish sauce.

I was able to find Nuoc Cham in my supermarket's ethnic foods aisle:
Blue Dragon is the brand that mine carries.

Answer 6

If you decided in studying to communicate Chinese then you need to now that the ideal option is a Course for Mandarin.

Answer 7

go fishing catch a fish and lay it on ur stuff dont gut it or anything just deep friy the eyes