Nam Chim (or Nam Jim)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nam chim or nam jim (Thai: น้ำจิ้ม, IPA: [nám tɕîm]) is Thai for "dipping sauce". It can refer to a wide variety of dipping sauces in Thai cuisine, with many of them a combination of salty, sweet, spicy and sour.
Nam chim tends to be more watery in consistency than nam phrik (Thai chili pastes). Although Sriracha sauce is commonly known as sot Sriracha in Thailand (sot is the Thai pronunciation of the English word sauce), it is sometimes called nam chim Sriracha or nam phrik Sriracha.
A more-or-less generic and basic nam chim is used for grilled or steamed seafood. This sauce contains garlic, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, and bird's eye chilies. Variations on this basic recipe find their use as a dipping sauce with and as an integral part of many dishes. Many of the ingredients in a nam chim are finely chopped or pounded in a mortar and pestle or, non-traditionally, ground in a blender.
Popular dipping sauces in Thailand are:
Nam Jim Kai (Thai: น้ำจิ้มไก่)
This dipping sauce is also very popular outside the country. This is the famous “Nam Jim Gai” or “Nam Jim Kai". It's usually served with fried chicken (Kai Thod) or grilled chicken (Kai Yang) and it’s a moderately spicy sweet sauce. It is actually widely known as "Thai sweet chili sauce." It is a versatile dipping sauce for grilled meat and fried food and is a very common all-round chili dipping sauce. It can be used as a generic chili sauce for other dishes. It forms the base of a few other types of nam chim, such as nam chim thot man pla ("dipping sauce for deep-fried fish cakes"). It also can be mixed with crushed peanuts and cucumber. This type of sauce is supposed to be thick and syrupy, with flakes of fresh red chili floating in it. You can choose the level of spice by selecting the type of the chili and adding the seeds and membrane, or not (seeds and membrane are where the heat resides most in the chili pod, but the shell also contains some heat as well). Gai = galangal
Nam chim thot man (Thai: น้ำจิ้มทอดมัน), served as a dip with thot man pla (fried fish cakes), is similar to nam chim kai but with chopped cucumber, crushed peanut and coriander (cilantro) leaves. For thot man kung or pu (fried prawn or crab cakes), however, a very sweet plum sauce is provided.
Nam Jim Gai (Thai Sweet Chili Sauce)
3 pods fresh red (only red) chili, chopped (I used the red Jalapeño chili and take all the seeds and membrane out)
1 teaspoon fresh garlic, crushed or minced
2 tablespoons pickled garlic, chopped
1 – 2 tablespoons brine in the pickled garlic jar
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon saltCrush the chilis and garlic in a food processor.
Put vinegar, sugar and salt in a pot and bring it to a boil
Add the crushed red chilis and garlic and bring it back to a boil.
Let it boil for a while until the contents are reduced and the chilies are all cooked. Takes about 2-5 minutes depending on the total volume of liquid in the batch.
Store in clean jars.
Nam Chim Satay (aka: Peanut sauce)
Nam chim sate (Thai: น้ำจิ้มสะเต๊ะ) is the Thai version of peanut sauce; it is eaten with Thai satay. It’s unclear whether this dipping sauce was introduced into Thai cuisine from Indonesia or Malaysia, or whether the Thai always had their own version of it, but Nam Jim/Chim Satay features among their recipes for the Royals. It’s typically served with skewered meat (satay) and has a sweet, tangy flavour. “Peanuts, sesame seeds, jaggery and tamarind are its key ingredients,” says Chef Satit.
Achat (Thai: อาจาด) is the Thai version of the Malay/Indonesian acar timun (cucumber pickles). The Thai variety consists of fresh chopped cucumber, spring onion and chili, mixed with vinegar. It is usually served with nam chim sate as a dip for satay.
Nam Jim Jaew
Another Nam Jim for grilled chicken I mentioned in the last blog is “Nam Jim Jaew”, the hot, sour and spicy dipping sauce for grilled meat and sticky rice. This is a Northeastern versatile dipping sauce. The sourness of the sauce is from tamarind pulp. The chili is ground dried chili flakes. I also add a pinch of sugar just to substitute for the MSG, which is normally added to the sauce.
The other difference in this dipping sauce is it has toasted rice and green onion in it, too. This is the sauce that you make as you need and never make too much of it.
Nam Jim Jaew
1-1/2 tablespoons tamarind pulp
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon – 1 tablespoon ground red chili, or dried red chili flakes for the less spicy version, (as much or as little as you prefer)
1/4 teaspoon palm sugar
1/4 teaspoon – 2 teaspoons toasted rice can be added (the more toasted rice the thicker the sauce would be)
1/2 – 1 teaspoon chopped green onionSimple method again, just mix them all together.
Nam Jim Pae Sa (Nam Jim Seafood)
Another Nam Jim that I consider “basic” is “Nam Jim Seafood”, or some might call it “Nam Jim Pae Sa”. This is the dipping sauce for seafood: grilled or steamed fish, shrimp, crabs and all mollusks. Nam chim paesa (Thai: น้ำจิ้มแป๊ะซะ) is served as a sauce for steamed fish wrapped in steamed cabbage leaves.
Nam Jim Seafood
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cilantro stems, minced
a pinch, or 1/2 teaspoon (Optional) granulated sugar
1/2 – 1 teaspoon (Optional) crushed fresh green chili (jalapeño or bird’s-eye)Simple method: mix them all together. This is the sauce that you make as you go and never make too much, too.
Nam chim chaeo (Thai: น้ำจิ้มแจ่ว), using ground dry-roasted glutinous rice, this sauce is most often eaten with mu yang/mu ping (grilled pork) or kai yang (grilled chicken).
Nam chim suki (Thai: น้ำจิ้มสุกี้) is eaten with Thai suki (the Thai version of the Chinese hot pot), amongst others' it contains sesame oil and oyster sauce.
Nam chim taochiao (Thai: น้ำจิ้มเต้าเจี้ยว), containing yellow soybean paste (taochiao), is eaten with khao man kai
Nam chim thale (Thai: น้ำจิ้มทะเล) — a basic dipping sauce made with garlic, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and chilis — is usually eaten with grilled or steamed seafood.
