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Thai Dipping Sauce for Meat (Nam Jim Jeaw)
5 from 14 votes

Thai Dipping Sauce for Meat (Nam Jim Jeaw)

Nam Jim Jeaw is a Thai dipping sauce featuring toasted rice powder combined with tamarind paste, fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar, shallots, chili flakes, and fresh herbs like mint, cilantro, and sawtooth coriander. It has a balance of tangy, savory, spicy, and herbaceous flavors that pairs well with grilled or fatty meats. Variations include lighter and tomato-based versions for different intensity and texture.

Servings: 4 servings
Course: Condiments
Cuisine: Thai

Ingredients

"Original" All-Purpose Nam Jim Jeaw
  • 1 tablespoon jasmine rice uncooked, or glutinous rice
  • 2 tablespoon tamarind paste (see note 1)
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon palm sugar finely chopped, packed
  • 2 tablespoon shallot finely diced
  • 1 teaspoon chili flakes or to taste (see note 2, toasted
  • 3 tablespoon green onion
  • 3 tablespoon mint
  • 3 tablespoon sawtooth coriander
  • 3 tablespoon cilantro chopped
Light Nam Jim Jeaw (see note 3)
  • 1 tablespoon jasmine rice uncooked, or glutinous rice
  • 2 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 ½ tablespoon lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon tamarind paste or sub another ½ tablespoon lime (see note 1)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon chili flakes or to taste (see note 2, toasted
  • 2 tablespoon shallot minced
  • 3 tablespoon green onion
  • 3 tablespoon mint
  • 3 tablespoon sawtooth coriander
  • 3 tablespoon cilantro chopped
Mellower Tomato Jeaw (see note 3)
  • 1 recipe Nam Jim Jeaw from above, all-purpose
  • ⅓ cup tomato small diced, juicy

Instructions

For All-Purpose and Light Nam Jim Jeaw
    Cup of Yum
  1. Make the toasted rice powder by adding the raw rice into a small dry skillet over medium high heat. Stir constantly until the grains are dark brown (it may get a bit smokey). Remove from the pan immediately to stop the toasting, and grind into a powder using a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder.
  2. In a small bowl, combine the tamarind paste, fish sauce, lime juice and sugar; stir until the sugar is mostly dissolved. *If using chopped palm sugar, any stubborn chunks that won't dissolve after a good stirring should dissolve in 5 minutes or so as they sit in the liquid. So no need to worry about them unless you're serving it immediately; in which case you can warm it up in the microwave briefly (5-8 seconds) to help the final bits of sugar dissolve. Smashing the chunks with a spoon will also help.
  3. Add the shallots and chili flakes and stir to mix.
  4. Close to serving time, add the toasted rice powder and all of the fresh herbs; stir to mix.
For the Mellow Tomato Jeaw
  1. Make the all-purpose jeaw as per instructions above, and stir in the diced tomatoes along with the fresh herbs. If you can, let it sit for a few minutes before serving to allow flavours to mingle.

Notes

  • Light jeaw variation suits delicate or fatty meats, while mellower tomato jeaw is useful as a spoon-over sauce without overpowering.
  • Use Thai tamarind paste from tubs or jars, not Indian tamarind paste, for authentic flavor.
  • Toasting chili flakes adds smokiness; you can use store-bought flakes toasted in a skillet or grind toasted dried chilies.