Nam jim — those little bowls of sauce served together with many dishes — can have a strong influence on the foods they accompany. Many popular main dishes would count for little without them. Think of beef or pork satay without the little dish of ajaad (a nam jim made of chopped cucumbers, chillies, shallots, salt, sugar, and vinegar) set on the table together with it.
PERFECT MATCH: Deep-fried tofu simply wouldn’t be complete without a bowl of nam jim.
There is a long list of Asian national dishes that call for nam jim: Muslim-style beef satay needs satay peanut sauce and ajaad. Khao moke kai (chicken biryani) should be accompanied by mint sauce, and spring rolls are not complete without a sweet-sour nam jim that includes shredded Chinese radish and pounded peanuts. Vietnamese khao kriab paak maw (a stuffed steamed noodle) must be served with a mixture of soy sauce, pounded dried chillies, and sesame oil.
The fried, stuffed Chinese dumplings called kio thawt or kio saa and the deep-fried Chinese dish called hae kuen (finely chopped shrimp meat mixed with pork fat and meat, starch, and seasonings, wrapped in tofu paper to form long rolls that are steamed and then deep-fried) need a plum-based nam jim made from pickled plums, sugar, salt, and vinegar that are simmered together until thick. The taste is salty-sweet-sour. Isan- or Lao-style grilled chicken comes with a sauce of pounded dried chillies mixed with the liquid from plaa raa (fermented fish) and tamarind juice.
Nam jim comes in many forms to complement a wide variety of dishes. The association between the sauce and the character of the dish it accompanies is so strong that the two can’t be separated and always travel together when the dish is adopted by another country. Sometimes these foods reveal links between different ethnic groups. Changes occur depending on adjustments in taste or ingredients based on the preferences of the people who eat them.
One simple example is khao man kai (Hainanese chicken and rice), originally a dish native to the island of Hainan off southern China. It was brought to Thailand by Hainanese immigrants a century or so ago, and is still made on its native Hainan using chickens raised there in Yuan San subdistrict, which are believed to be the tastiest.
But the nam jim served with khao man kai there is nothing special, just soy sauce mixed with sesame oil and ground dried chillies. People from Hainan who come to Thailand and taste the Thai version of the sauce, made from tao jio (a salty fermented whole soybean sauce), chopped fresh ginger, and chopped phrik khee nuu (bird chillies) concede that it is much better. The nam jim originally served with khao man kai in Thailand was just tao jio and chopped ginger; the chillies came later. This change is one example of an imported dish being adapted to suit local latest.
Nam plaa phrik (nam plaa with chopped chillies), which is also considered to be a nam jim, is usually made just from sliced phrik khee nuu and nam plaa. But some more recent versions add chopped cloves from big Chinese garlic bulbs or thinly-sliced shallots, then some thin slices of lime. Even the super-familiar phrik nam plaa isn’t immune to change.
Some places that serve thawt man plaa kraai (deep-fried patties of pounded fish meat with seasonings) and choeng plaa kraai choop paeng thawt (pieces of fish meat from close to the bone that are coated with batter and deep-fried) overlook the nam jim. When eaten without it these dishes lose all of their character. The sauce is made with thin slices of cucumber, ground chillies, sliced shallots, pounded peanuts, salt, vinegar, and sugar.
In the past this sauce was made using a special technique that suited the tastes of the era. It would be made with thua tat, a Chinese peanut brittle made but simmering sugar with salt to make a thick, hot syrup, adding peanuts and sesame seeds, then pouring the mixture into a mould. After it cooled and solidified it would be cut into pieces to make a candy that was popular for its combination of sweetness, saltiness, and nutty peanut flavour.
Vendors who sold thawt man plaa and breaded choeng plaa kraai would take thua tat and pound it in a mortar, not to too fine a consistency. Then vinegar was added, with sliced cucumber and chillies to make a nam jim that combined sweetness, saltiness, sourness and a nutty taste with an appealing crunchiness. But these days thua tat is harder to find than it used to be, and nam jim made with it is largely gone, too.
There is a type of nam jim made especially to eat with seafood. Prawns, crabs, fish, squid, and luke chin plaa (balls of pounded fish meat) shouldn’t be eaten without it. The sauce is constantly evolving from its original form, with used phrik khee nuu pounded with garlic and mixed into nam plaa or salted vinegar. More elaborate recent versions use phrik khee nuu, garlic, sugar, lime juice, salt, and fresh coriander mixed in proportions that make sourness prominent among the tastes. If it is mixed in a blender it is especially good.
Certain noodle dishes should be served with a nam jim. Khanom jeen Hailam (a Hainanese dish made with large-gauge noodles) needs the liquid kapi (shrimp paste) sauce called kiem goy. Some places add chopped phrik khee nuu to it.
There is a shop on Soi Isaranuphaap off Yaowarat that offers kui tio luuk chin muu nam sai (noodles with balls of pounded beef in clear broth). The noodles are sold from one of the oldest stalls in Bangkok, and are among the most delicious in town. They are served with a type of pickled chilli sauce that can be considered a nam jim because it is presented in a small bowl of the type used for nam jim instead of being set on the table in a bottle the way such condiments usually are in other shops. The sauce is made by pounding red phrik chee faa chillies with fresh and pickled garlic and adding a little vinegar. It is delicious, and is a house speciality that you will find only at this stall.
Some nam jim are eaten with fresh fruit. The crunchy raw mangoes called mamuang man should be eaten with the sauce called nam plaa waan, which contains dried shrimp simmered with palm sugar and nam plaa. Pickled mangoes are best with liquid palm sugar mixed with phrik khee nuu.
The nam jim served with different foods are not just a side detail. It is often an artfully made nam jim that focuses the dish and makes it special. You often hear people who know food well pointing out that the offerings at a favourite shops or restaurant are so good just because of an excellent house sauce that brings out the best in them. n
