Seasoned Black Bean Sauce (Nuoc Tuong)

When we lived in Vietnam decades ago my mother made nước tương or seasoned black bean sauce to drizzle over her bánh mì or Vietnamese sandwiches to sell. Nowadays she continues to make this sauce to use as a condiment for some of our meals. It generally tastes a little on the sweet side. If you prefer a thicker sauce then use only 2 tablespoons water for this recipe. You can find "Ground Black Bean Sauce" sold in a glass jar or a can at an Asian market. The store-bought sauce is very salty by itself.

We also use this same sauce by adding a few more ingredients such as a squeeze of lemon or lime juice, freshly crushed roasted unsalted peanuts and hot chili peppers to dip our gỏi cuốn or fresh spring rolls. This sauce keeps up to a month if tightly sealed in the refrigerator. Always use a clean spoon every time you remove the sauce to prevent contamination inside the jar.

seasoned black bean sauce (nuoc tuong)

Seasoned Black Bean Sauce (Nước Tương)--makes about 1/2 cup

Ingredients:

2 tsp vegetable oil
1 large garlic clove, minced (about 1 tsp minced garlic)
2 Tbsp Ground Black Bean Sauce
4 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp sugar
1 green blade of scallions, chopped (about 1 tsp chopped)

Method:

Saute garlic in oil until light golden. Add Ground Black Bean Sauce, water, sugar and scallions. Cook in medium-low heat for about 5 minutes.

seasoned black bean sauce (nước tương)