Thai Nam Jim Look Chin

“Nam Jim Look Chin” ( น้ำจิ้มลูกชิ้น ) is a sweet-sour-spicy dip with tamarind that is typically served with grilled meatballs (Look Chin) in Thailand, but it also pairs wonderfully with grilled meat. In my recipe, I’ll show you how to easily prepare this delicious dip yourself. By roasting the ingredients, the dip gains an additional light roasted aroma. This dip should have a certain spiciness, which you can adjust to your own taste with the amount of chili powder.

Preparation

First, we peel the shallots and garlic cloves. Then we place them together with the tomatoes in a flat pan without oil and roast all ingredients until they are slightly browned and smell aromatic.

While the roasted ingredients cool down, we cut the coriander roots into fine pieces. Then we cut the roasted shallots, garlic, and cherry tomatoes into coarse pieces.

We add these ingredients together with the tamarind paste, a quarter of the water (50ml), and the chili powder to a food processor or small blender and make a coarse paste. If you don’t have either available, you can also pound the ingredients in a mortar.

Now we add about 100ml (3.4 fl oz) of the water to a small pot and bring it to a boil. In the hot water, we completely dissolve the sugar before adding the prepared paste. Then we add the fish sauce and salt, reduce the heat slightly, and let everything simmer for about six to eight minutes.

Meanwhile, we can dissolve the cornstarch in the remaining water and after the time has elapsed, stir both into the pot while stirring constantly. Then we let the Nam Jim Look Chin continue to simmer until it has taken on a syrup-like consistency.

Remove the finished Nam Jim Look Chin from the heat and let it cool. It usually becomes a bit thicker when cooling and can then be used immediately. However, stored in clean screw-top jars, the dip will also keep for about two to three weeks in the refrigerator.