I’m going to make a claim right now. And it’s a claim you hear over and over from food bloggers. So much so, that it feels trite and meaningless, so I hesitate to say it. But please, read these words with the same spirit that I write them: this is my favorite recipe ever.
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Southeast Asian cuisine is tops when it comes to flavor. Last week I shared my grilled beef skewers and mentioned that they go perfectly with spicy lime dressing. A lot of questions came in about the dressing (sauce), so instead of burying the recipe in a comment thread, I’m creating a dedicated post because it deserves it. This table sauce is an absolute cataclysm of flavor.
“What do you use this for?” So, so much. Steak, we’ve covered. But I use this for chicken, fish, shrimp, crab, salads, eggs, rice, potatoes, vegetables, and even fruit (mango is slammin’ with this sauce). It’s salty, sweet, acidic, spicy, bitter – this sauce wakes up every part of your tongue and gets it two-stepping to the beat. I am not exaggerating when I say this is the best flavor combination I personally know of.
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This sauce keeps in the fridge for weeks, though I go through it pretty quick. You can very easily manage the spice level depending on how many chilis you add (suggestions noted in the recipe). For your first time trying this, just get some greens, thin-cut grilled steaks, and some rice. This sauce on rice?! It’s bananas.
I’m also still learning how to make Southeast Asian food, and everything I try is like I’m a baby tasting food for the very first time. So please, anyone who is from the region, I’d love to know your thoughts! How did I do?
Cambodian Spicy Lime Table Sauce
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup lime juice must be fresh squeezed
- 2/3 cup fish sauce
- 1/3 cup coconut palm sugar + 1 more Tbsp
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup shallots finely chopped
- 1/4 cup garlic finely chopped
For Mild (by U.S. standards)
- 1 tsp Asian red chili flakes
For Medium (by U.S. standards)
- 1 tsp Asian red chili flakes
- 2 red Thai chilis finely chopped
For Spicy (by U.S. standards)
- 1 tsp Asian red chili flakes
- 5 red Thai chilis finely chopped
To Really Bring the Heat
- 2 tsp Asian red chili flakes
- 10 red Thai chilis finely chopped
Directions:
- In a bowl, stir together all the ingredients until the sugar is dissolved completely. Store in an airtight glass container in the fridge. Will reach full spice level after about 3 days, but can be enjoyed immediately.
This is REALLY good! So far, weāve used it on a simple green salad with mango and raw fennel and on grilled shrimp and grilled pineapple. All were delicious! Thank you.
This was š„ š„ š„!! Iām not a fish person at all so I was worried this would too much for me, but this was the perfect with the skewers, which were great but this really took them to another level. Another banger! When are we getting a cookbook?
Iām a follower of yāallās and Cambodian, so had to comment – my parents are from Cambodia and I grew up eating and cooking Cambodian food my entire life. I have also visited twice. I donāt think your recipe is far off at all and probably achieves a similar flavor profile!
We actually just call this āfish sauceā (direct translation) – which is also what the stuff straight out of the bottle is called. Itās used interchangeably, but people just know which youāre talking about (dipping sauce or bottle) depending on the context. Itās similar to Vietnamese fish sauce; they use the term āngoc mamā to mean both.
We would also boil the water and sugar first (essentially a simple syrup) before mixing everything else in just to ensure the sugar is fully dissolved.
I donāt *typically* see shallot, but definitely garlic! But we do use shallot in our cooking so itās not too far out there and Iām sure itās been used before.
As far as I know, we donāt use a lot of dried chili flakes in our cooking. Chilis would maybe be sun-dried or more commonly transformed into a paste. Perhaps in a pinch, chili flakes could be used as a substitute. For less spice (I admit I have a more mild American palette), I just use less birdās eye (Thai) chili.
Finally, there are variations of it that are also yummy! We often add crushed peanuts straight into the sauce for a little crunch mixed in.
We also make a version that has ginger added blitzed into it that goes great with poultry and seafood. I make it with all the time with chicken rice, another dish you should try since you like southeast Asian food if you havenāt already. Very similar to the more popularized Hainanese chicken rice, the same roots due to cultural migration, etc.
Sorry for the long comment, just excited to see the mention of Cambodian on such a large platform lol
Thank you for this awesome recipe Chris!
Chris – your weekly recipe is always amazing, so much detail and great instructions and photos. I swear if this was “Chris Loves Cooking” and a dedicated food blog that you would have hundreds of comments and foodie visitors. I love that your passion gets highlighted here!
Agreed! Chris recipes are always a 10/10