Nuke Mom!

It's no secret that the secret of great Vietnamese food is great fish sauce. Unfortunately, most Americans feel about fish sauce the same way I used to: Yuck! What is there to like about liquified, fermented fish? It smells vaguely like the fish fertilizer we used in the garden when I was a kid. That grossed me out then, why would cooking with it be a good idea now?

Still, if you like Vietnamese and Thai food, you like fish sauce. It's what gives the food that inimitable tang. Even the dumbed-down dishes that pass for Asian fare in most U.S. restaurants use this piscine prodigy, though often in lesser amounts than in their original incarnations. Also, it can be hard to come by the good stuff, even in a big city. And the good stuff is significantly tastier than the not as good stuff.

We fell in love with fish sauce, nuoc mam (pronounced something like nuke mom), when we were in Hanoi. The Vietnamese use fish sauce the way the Japanese use soy sauce and the way we use salt, as an ubiquitous basic flavor enhancer. When do you use salt? Pretty much on everything because food just doesn't taste right without it. Same with nuoc mam in VN.

The good stuff (in Vietnam, anyway) comes from Phu Quoc Island off the southwest tip of Vietnam. Here's the link to our blog about our visit to this beautiful island.

 We found the delicious Flying Lion brand

in Southern Cal and Boise. It's also available on Amazon!

Nuoc mam is rarely used straight. Spiked with chopped ginger, garlic, and chile, it makes a great marinade for chicken, pork, beef, or fish. It caramelizes on grilled meats, giving them a tangy flavor that is not at all fishy.

It is most often used as a dipping sauce that has numerous tasty applications from salad dressing to an accompaniment to bun cha and cha ca la Vong. Here are my suggestions for making a batch (adjust proportions according to your need or greed):

• Equal portions of fresh-squeezed lime juice and water
• Enough sugar to cut the sourness of the limes, but leave a refreshing tang
• Add fish sauce to taste, you'll probably add too little to begin with, but remember, you're not gong to eat it by itself, it has to be strong enough to add that incomparable zing to bland rice noodles, rice, lettuce, meat, etc. So be brave! Add more!
• Chop lots of ginger, garlic, and chile (red Thai chiles are the best, but Serranos will do). Add to the liquid and let it sit for an hour or two.

I like to make way more than I need for whatever dish I making so that I have extra for salads, sandwiches (e.g. grilled chicken with lettuce, shredded carrot, mint and cilantro on a sourdough roll dipped in the dipping sauce), etc. It'll keep in the refrigerator for a least a week, though it's tastiest fresh.

Try it out.I suspect that, like me, you will quickly become addicted.

P.