Nam Jim 101: A brief roundup of popular Thai dipping sauces

But first, WTF is up with nam jim on London menus?

I’ve noticed a recent trend in London, in which nam jim (sometimes written nam chim) is pitched as an ingredient in some menu items. For those who aren’t familiar with these Thai words, let’s break them down. น้ำ (nam) means liquid or water and จิ้ม (jim) means to dip, so put together they mean dipping sauce. On its own, without context, it’s as ambiguous a descriptor as “burger with condiments” or “pasta with sauce.”

Loanword, exoticisation, and/or other?

Language is a crucial aspect of culture and since culture is dynamic, full of sharing and exchange, the popping up and rapid inclusion of loanwords is hardly surprising. But when loanwords are integrated from a donor language into the target language, the meaning doesn’t change. For instance the words “pizza” and “taco” come from Italian and Spanish, respectively, but these loanwords are recognised in English with the same meaning as in their source languages. Granted I’m making assumptions that each use of nam jim in the case of London menus refers to the same sauce (I genuinely don’t know), does nam jim count as a loanword given its meaning seems to have been modified to represent a specific type of sauce?

Is there a word for this erosion of original meaning with regards to something like a loanword? Linguistic rebrandification? Specificide? Word gentrification? For instance the word “manga” refers to the cartooning and comics in a general sense, but in the English world it refers to a specific style of Japanese comics. I suspect that’s a little bit like what’s happening with nam jim¹, where the movement of definition is from a broad category to specificity. Linguists, please feel free to weigh in.

For what it’s worth, I’d wager it’s nam jim jaew น้ำจิ้มแจ่ว, a sour, spicy, and toasty mixture associated with Isan region (Northeastern Thailand) but popular throughout the country. Then again there’s the possibility of good ol’ linguistic exoticism, where folks are attempting to come across as sophisticated through foreign word affectation without any criticial thought with regards to whatever it is they’re trying to signal. Perhaps it’s a little bit of all of the above.

Check out the table below, sourced from the search engine marketing company Semrush. Their keyword magic tool helps users to analyse search markets, but it can also be useful for gauging the way people use language in search. Users input a seed keyword, in this case “nam jim,” from which the tool generates a list of related search terms. The results here are sorted by volume for the UK market.

It’s not an exact science, but given all but one of the results are for a generalised nam jim, where the outlier is for nam jim jaew, I think it vaguely supports my arguments that a) it’s not unusual for people to assume nam jim is one type of sauce and b) people are probably talking about nam jim jaew when they speak of a generalised nam jim in English. It’s not a huge leap, even if if it’s still an assumption, that many people believe nam jim jaew and nam jim are one and the same.

Condiments in an inclusive cuisine

A couple of things came to mind while ruminating over what’s going on with the English word use of nam jim, mainly the question of whether or not non-Thais know what it means. Do they know it represents an entire category of condiments? Then, I thought, perhaps I ought to write a sort of 101 guide.

One aspect of eating in Thailand that’s lost on many a foreigner is the customisation of flavours at the table. In my experience Thai food can be quite inclusive, catering to individual preferences without great snobbery. Diners are allowed to adjust a the taste of a given dish to suit their own palate, whether it’s with noodle condiments or dipping sauces. With this in mind, no serious discussion of Thai food traditions is complete without at least a nod to the culinary category of nam jim.

11 popular Thai dipping sauces

As we’ve already established, nam jim is a widespread and popular category of seasoning, or dipping sauces, in Thailand. They tend to be somewhat thin and eaten with a variety of different dishes, ranging from grilled and fried foods to steamed foods and one-plate dishes such as fried rice or khao man gai. I’ll include some common varieties as well as a few seasonings that don’t necessarily count as nam jim but still deserve a mention.

Nam jim gai (น้ำจิ้มไก่)

AKA Thai sweet chilli sauce. This popular sauce is probably one of the most familiar to Western audiences. The flavour profile is sweet and sour with a hint of spiciness. It’s popular with gai yang, or grilled and fried chicken (hence its name), as well as fried fish cakes and loads more.

Nam jim jaew (น้ำจิ้มแจ่ว)

This one is perfect with grilled foods because of its vibrant acidity, which helps to cut through fattiness. The sour element can be from lime and/or tamarind, with smoky notes from both toasted dried chillies and toasted ground rice. Saltiness and umami comes from soy or fish sauce and freshness from chopped coriander stems. Sweetness is minimal, with (if any) sugar added purely for balance.

Nam jim satay (น้ำจิ้มสะเต๊ะ)

The frenemy of Thai restauranteurs in Western countries, this peanut sauce is in high demand. As Andy Ricker put it in his cookbook Pok Pok: Food and Stories from the Streets, Homes, and Roadside Restaurants of Thailand, “if the words ‘peanut sauce’ appear on the menu, you get people who want to order peanut sauce by the liter to dump on rice.” In reality peanut sauce has very limited uses in Thailand, primarily as a dipping sauce for satay (which is the name of the skewers, not the sauce).

The main ingredients in satay sauce are toasted peanuts, coconut milk, palm sugar, red curry paste, and tamarind water. Never peanut butter.

Nam jim ajad (น้ำจิ้มอาจาด)

Nam jim ajad, referred to as just ajad, is the other accompaniment to satay. It’s also eaten with quite a few other dishes (unlike the above peanut sauce that, again, has very limited uses in Thailand). It’s a sweet and sour relish made with vinegar, salt, and sugar, along with slices of cucumber, shallot, and chillies. Other dishes you’d enjoy with ajad include gaeng gari (yellow curry), khao mok (Thai style biryani), fried fish cakes, kanom buang yuan (the Thai take on bánh xèo), kanom nang na moo (fried pork toast), and more.

Nam jim suki (น้ำจิ้มสุกี้)

The main ingredients in nam jim suki are Thai sriracha, fermented red bean curd, sesame oil and toasted seeds, vinegar, sugar, and garlic (fresh and/or pickled). Some versions contain fresh chillies and pickled garlic.

Did you know Thailand has its own take on Japanese sukiyaki? It’s shortened to just suki and can come in the form of soup (as individual bowls or as a hot pot) or as a stir fry. With suki haeng the nam jim is stir fried with glass noodles and vegetables. Suki nam is glass noodle soup seasoned with suki sauce. Finally, the sauce is used with hotpots for individual diners to dip their cooked hotpot goodies and/or to season individual soup portions.

Nam jim talay (น้ำจิ้มทะเล)

The word “talay” refers here to seafood, so this spicy, tangy, garlicky sauce is a nationwide seafood seasoning, but in reality it’s perfect for just about anything. All of my vegan Thai friends raise the roof over its versatility. I love it as a dip for just about anything fried, like the vegan pork belly I often make for my supper clubs. It’s also great with simple fried noodle dishes like pad mee (but not with heavily flavoured dishes like pad thai) and any grilled vegetables (especially mushrooms).

The main ingredients are garlic, fish/soy sauce, lime juice, sugar, chillies, and coriander roots (or stems).

Nam jim taohoo tod (น้ำจิ้มเต้าหู้ทอด)

A very common street food snack in Thailand is fried tofu, or taohoo tod. This sweet chilli sauce with ground peanuts is the prevailing accompaniment. Sometimes it contains tamarind, adding a different type of acidic note, but often it’s more like the aforementioned nam jim gai with the addition of peanuts. This nam jim also goes well with other deep fried snacks like spring rolls.

Check out my recipe for Thai deep fried tofu with sweet and sour chilli peanut sauce if you want to try making it for yourself.

Nam jim khao man gai (น้ำจิ้มข้าวมันไก่) | Nam jim tao jeow (น้ำจิ้มเต้าเจี้ยว)

Khao man gai is the Thai take on Hainanese chicken rice. The accompanying nam jim is made with tao jeow (fermented soybean sauce/paste), black/dark soy sauce (the Thai one is different to the Chinese style), ginger, garlic, vinegar, sugar, and chillies. It’s a zippy sauce that you can buy bottled or make yourself. If you want to have a bash, check out my recipe for vegan khao man gai.

Some people, especially kids, prefer see ew wan ซีอิ๊วหวาน, or sweet dark soy sauce, to eat with khao man gai.

Nam jim khao mok gai (น้ำจิ้มข้าวหมกไก่)

While sometimes served with nam jim gai, the traditional sauce for this Muslim-Thai biryani contains heaps of fresh mint and coriander. Some recipes include spring onions. Fresh garlic and ginger, chillies, sugar, and vinegar also join the ingredient lineup.

Nam Pla Prik (น้ำปลาพริก)

This one isn’t technically a type of nam jim since it’s not a dipping sauce so much as an all purpose seasoning, but prik nam pla or nam pla prik is ubiquitous AF so it deserves a mention anyway. It’s an everyday table condiment to season anything and everything, kind of like salt and pepper in the US. The required ingredients are sliced bird’s eye chillies and fish sauce, but lime is a common addition. You might also add garlic and/or shallots. Sugar can also be used for balance. It’s easy to make a vegan version.

Nam pla prik adds a salty, umami flavour to dishes as well as heat from chillies. It’s used to season anything from fried rice to noodle soups.

Sriracha น้ำจิ้มศรีราชา/ซอสศรีราชา

Used both as an ingredient and a dipping sauce, Thai sriracha (the purported original sriracha, named after a town by the same name) is a far cry from the popular Huy Fong and Flying Goose styles. The Thai version is sweeter, typically thinner, and ranges from mild to spicy. Ingredients include chillies, garlic, vinegar, salt, and sugar. It pairs well with Thai style omelette rice, deep fried and grilled foods, kway teow kua kai (fried noodles with chicken – Kaek Kao Kua in Bangkok does an amazing vegan version), and more.

Here’s my recipe for Thai style sriracha.

1. Thai is a tonal language. Get the wrong tone and you might utter something racy. Case in point: the word “jim” pronounced with falling tone means to dip or poke, but change it to a rising tone (จิ๋ม) and you’ve arrived at slang for vagina.