Dipping Sauce for Barbecued Meats (Nam Jim Jeaw)

September 24, 2024

Dipping Sauce for Barbecued Meats (Nam Jim Jeaw) © kvalifood.com

Nam jim jeaw is the go-to dipping sauce for grilled meats in Isaan (northeastern Thailand). It is tangy, spicy, and nutty from toasted rice powder. Anything off the grill - beef, chicken, pork, even mushrooms - works well with it. It also does a good job of livening up a plain pan-seared chicken breast or fish.

Ingredients

Yields ca. 2/3 cup

2 Tbsp palm sugar, finely chopped, packed
2 tsp hot water
3 Tbsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp tamarind juice
3 Tbsp shallots, thinly sliced, then chopped
To taste roasted chili flakes (or regular chili flakes)
3 Tbsp green onion, chopped
3 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp toasted rice powder

Directions

Put the palm sugar in a small bowl and drizzle the hot water over it. Mash the sugar into a paste - this just helps it dissolve faster. If you finely grated the sugar, you can skip this step.

Add the fish sauce, lime juice, and tamarind juice to the sugar. Stir until the sugar is fully dissolved.

When ready to serve, stir in the shallots, chili flakes, green onion, cilantro, and toasted rice powder.

Notes

Takes about 15 minutes.

The sauce can be made a few days ahead and stored in the fridge, but do not add the herbs and toasted rice powder until serving time.

Since the palm sugar is not cooked here, make sure there are no big chunks or it will not dissolve. You can grate it with a microplane or fine grater to help it dissolve more easily.

Green onion and cilantro are the standard herbs, but you can swap them out. To stay true to the Isaan roots, try sawtooth coriander, mint, or even dill (known as “Lao cilantro” in Thailand).