FOOD NEWS
The Under-Appreciated Ingredient That Makes Any Soup Taste Better
BY LUNA REGINA
Soup is a comforting meal that can be tailored to any preference, but there's one ingredient that can make almost any soup tastier: Vietnamese nu'oc mam.
Nu'oc mam, or nu'oc cham, is a Vietnamese dipping sauce made of fish sauce, water, sugar, lime juice, and optional chili, garlic, or ginger.
The sauce has a salty umami flavor balanced with sweet, sour, and zesty hints that can give soup a special complexity and hearty richness.
The easiest way to add nu'oc mam is by substituting it for fish sauce in recipes such as Thai yum goong and tom kha kai, Chinese beef noodle soup, or Vietnamese canh chua.
You can also add it to other soups for extra umami, like chicken noodle soup, Italian minestrone, or French onion soup, adding a surprise factor to the broth.