Basic Vietnamese dipping sauce

There are many variations on this Vietnamese sauce, but this version is the true basis. It is not only a way of adding flavours to dishes; as a dressing, nước chấm has an important role in bringing together all the ingredients with their various textures. Nước chấm is therefore a very important finishing element. In fact, it can determine the whole character of the dish. The basic dipping sauce is called nước chấm (dipping sauce) or mắm ngọc (sweet fish sauce). All special dipping sauces feature the extra ingredient(s) in the name of the sauce alongside 'nước' and/or 'mắm'.