Nựớc Chẩm

a.k.a. 'awesome sauce' -- or so says Cooking Light magazine. (It's their photo.) Lots of versions of nuoc cham sauce can be found, but the sweet, salty, sour and spicy blend typically comes from some kind of sugar, fish sauce, lime and chile. Other ingredients vary. This is a fairly typical recipe...

Ingredients
¼ C water
2 T sugar
¼ C matchstick-cut carrots (optional)
3 T lime juice
4 tsp fish sauce
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1 Thai chile, thinly sliced

Directions
Combine water and sugar; stir -- or shake, in a sealed container -- until sugar dissolves. Add remaining ingredients.Refrigerate up to 3 days.

Use as a baste for grilling, a dressing/marinade for shredded cabbage, toss with soba noodles, as a dipping sauce for spring rolls...