One batch of this recipe yields 1 cup. Simply double or triple the amount when scaling up. UPDATED: 2023
Recipe by Andrea Nguyen on November 24, 2008
Ingredients
3 to 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice (2 limes)
2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar, agave, or honey
1/2 cup lukewarm water
Unseasoned rice vinegar
3 to 4 tablespoons fish sauce
1 large garlic clove, (minced)
1 or 2 Thai chilis, (thinly sliced, or 2 or 3 teaspoons chili garlic sauce )
1/4 cup coarsely grated carrot
Steps
Make a tangy base. Combine the lime juice, sugar, and water, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Taste and as yourself this question: Does this limeade taste good? Adjust the flavors to balance out the sweet and sour. If the flavor is bitter, add a teaspoon or so of rice vinegar.
Finish with fish sauce. Add the fish sauce and any of the optional ingredients. Taste again and adjust the flavors to your liking, balancing out the sour, sweet, salty and spicy. Aim for a bold, forward finish -- perhaps a little stronger than what you'd normally like. This sauce is likely to be used to add final flavor to foods wrapped in lettuce or herbs, which are not salted and therefore need a little lift to heighten the overall eating experience. My mother looks for color to gauge her dipping sauce. When it's a light honey or amber, she knows she's close.
Add extras. Add enough of the chile for heat, garlic for pungency, and carrot for color, slight crunch and a touch of sweetness. Set the sauce at the table so dinners may help themselves, or portion into individual dipping sauce bowls.
