Nam Jim Jaew (Isaan Dipping Sauce)
The smoky, sour, salty dipping sauce served with grilled meats across Isaan, thickened with toasted rice.
- Region
- Isaan (Northeastern Thailand)
- Condiments
- Fish Sauce, Palm Sugar, Tamarind
- Vegetables
- Bird’s Eye Chilli, Thai Shallots, Dried Red Chillies, Coriander Leaves
- Fruits
- Lime
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp tamarind concentrate
- 1 tsp palm sugar, finely chopped
- 1–2 tsp roasted chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp toasted rice powder (khao khua, see larb moo)
- 1 small shallot, thinly sliced
- 1 spring onion or a few sprigs of coriander, chopped
Instructions
Jaew is the sauce that goes with everything grilled in Isaan: gai yang, nam tok, grilled pork neck, grilled fish and sticky rice. It is dark, smoky from roasted chilli, sour from lime and tamarind, and thickened with toasted rice so it clings to every bite.
Method
- Stir the fish sauce, lime juice, tamarind and palm sugar together in a bowl until the sugar dissolves.
- Add the chilli flakes and toasted rice powder and stir. Leave for 5 minutes to let the rice powder thicken the sauce slightly.
- Stir in the shallot and spring onion or coriander just before serving.
- Taste: it should be sour and salty first, then smoky and hot, with only a little sweetness. Adjust to taste.
How to use jaew
Jaew is a dipping sauce, served in a small bowl for everyone to share. Pinch a ball of sticky rice, use it to pick up a piece of grilled meat, then dip both into the sauce. It is the standard partner for gai yang, kor moo yang (grilled pork neck), suea rong hai ('crying tiger' grilled beef) and pla pao (salt-crusted grilled fish). It also comes with jim jum, the Isaan clay-pot hotpot, and with raw cabbage and long beans.
Variations
- Jaew mak len: grill or char two or three small tomatoes, pound them with the chilli and garlic, then season. The tomato makes a softer, fruitier sauce.
- Jaew makhuea: pound grilled, peeled aubergine with charred garlic, shallots and chilli for a thick, smoky dip.
- Jaew bong: the sweet, smoky chilli paste from Luang Prabang, made from roasted dried chillies, garlic, shallots, galangal, fish sauce and sugar, traditionally with shredded buffalo or pork skin. It keeps for weeks.
- Jaew pla ra: replace some of the fish sauce with boiled pla ra liquid for a deeper, funkier flavour.
Cook’s tips
- Make your own roasted chilli flakes by toasting dried bird’s eye chillies in a dry pan until dark and fragrant, then grinding them. They taste far smokier than bought flakes.
- Jaew keeps for 2 days in the fridge, but add the rice powder and herbs fresh.
Aroy Mak Mak
Aroy Mak Mak is a small team writing about the food of Thailand and its neighbours: recipes you can cook at home, guides to the ingredients behind them, and places worth travelling for. The name means "very delicious" in Thai. Every recipe on the site lists its ingredients, timings and method in full, explains the techniques that matter, and suggests substitutes for ingredients that are hard to find outside Thailand. The guides to regions, condiments, vegetables and fruits explain what things are, how they are used and how to buy and store them. Place pages are researched from current sources, including the latest Michelin Guide Thailand, official websites and maps, and give addresses, opening hours and what to order. Where a detail could not be confirmed, it is left out rather than guessed.