From the Isan province of Northeast Thailand, this smokey, spicy dipping sauce is found on every street corner in Thailand. Most people at home associate sweet chilli sauce with Thai food but I promise this Nam Jim Jaew is just as, if not more popular among locals here in Thailand.
Nam Jim Jaew is served with every Thai grilled meat on the street from Gai Yang (grilled chicken) to Moo Ping (Pork skewers) and anything in between. I particularly love it with Laab Moo Tod (fried pork laab balls), although that’s not too common!
As with most things Thai, everyone has their own way of doing things. Some use galangal, which is traditional I’m told. Some use lime juice and tamarind, others swear by just tamarind! I’ve made one that I think’s perfect and best of all it takes less than five minutes to throw together (as long as you have some Toasted Rice Powder handy)!
- 4 tbsp Fish Sauce or light soy or a mixture of both
- 1 small shallot finely sliced
- 1 sprig spring onion finely chopped
- 2 tsp palm sugar dissolved in 2 tbsp of boiling water
- 1 tbsp tamarind pulp from fresh or concentrate is fine
- 1 small lime juiced
- 1 tbsp dried red chilli flakes or to taste
- small handful Coriander chopped finely
- 1 tbsp toasted sticky rice powder known as khai kua (see notes above)
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and serve, easy as that!
