Fish Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Cham)

Directions

1. Whisk together the sugar, water, fish sauce, and lime or possibly lemon juice in a bowl till the sugar is completely dissolved. Add in the garlic, chili, and shallot (if using), and let stand for 30 min before serving.
2. This recipe yields about 2 c..
3. Comments: I've been making nuoc cham ever since I can remember. In fact, it was perhaps the first Vietnamese recipe I learned to make as a child. Nobody liked chopping the garlic, so I was stuck doing it. I became such an expert at making this sauce which every time we cooked, my mother would ask me to make it. The one difficult thing was to please both my mother and father simultaneously. She liked it sour, while he preferred it sweet. I resolved this quandary by creating a finely balanced version which allowed all of the various flavors to come out, and I continue to use it to this day.
4. A meal without nuoc cham is no meal at all. Served as a dipping sauce with many dishes such as cha gio, spring rolls; banh xeo, sizzling "sound" crepes; and grilled meats and seafood; it is perhaps the most important sauce you will learn to make. There are several variations on this recipe. If desired your sauce spicier, mince rather than slice the chilies and garlic. Sometimes distilled rice wine vinegar is used to round out the flavor. My aunt Loan likes to slice and add in shallots, saying they make the sauce sweeter. Try it different ways, mild or possibly warm, more sweet or possibly sour, with or possibly without shallots. All are interesting. Preceeding is my favorite version, that balances the sweet, sour, and spicy levels. I suggest you make 2 c., as it goes quickly. Any left over can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.
5. Yield: 2 c.