I want to start this post by thanking Fred Wilson, founder of “Back of The Bike” Tours in Saigon, Vietnam, backofthebiketours.com without whom my attempts at recreating this sauce in my West Virginia kitchen would have come to naught. My husband, the chef at our Historic Inn in West Virginia, & I, took a truly excellent “Chef’s Tour” with Fred when we were last in Vietnam in 2015, (see my full post, with photos, what we ate & where, and Fred’s guide to Saigon’s foodie scene:
Good Morning Vietnam! Part 12: Saigon Foodie Fun! “Back of the Bike” Chef’s Tour: https://southernwestvirginia.org/?p=92 ), spending a fabulous, fun, foodie evening zipping all over Saigon on the back of motorcycles, sampling amazingly delicious foods in places that we Never would have found if not for Fred & his terrific band of bikers! We even had a documentary photographer biker on our tour, hence all the great photos in my original blog post! Dan and I had tasted a fabulous Green Sauce at a BBQ restaurant in Buon Ma Thout on that trip, & we found the exact same sauce at one of the many places Fred took us to that night in Saigon. The lady at that restaurant was the one who made it, & I was beyond overjoyed that I could buy it there, as it truly tasted like no other sauce we’d ever had. I bought several unmarked, plastic bottles of it that night, pictured in the middle of the photo above, which went into our deep freeze the minute we got home to West Virginia- to be doled out, carefully, like the controlled substance it was!
When I started on the last bottle I got panicky, as I couldn’t find that sauce Anywhere. I hit up all my Vietnamese friends around the USA, but they had no clue, save to tell me to try making a sauce with limes & jalapenos. I tried to contact the BBQ place in Buon Ma Thout, but it was long gone. I then PMed Fred, to ask if I could buy bottles of that sauce from the lady at the restaurant, but she wasn’t selling or shipping- or giving out that truly secret recipe. I emailed various Vietnamese foodie writers and shops, but couldn’t get any more information than I already had. It was Fred who told me it was called Mười ớt xanh, Mười ớt đo, or muối ớt xanh in Vietnamese, & suggested that I look online, especially on YouTube, for recipes. I found a few recipes, all pretty similar, & made a batch, but it wasn’t even close to what we had in the deep freeze, &, much as I doctored it, I couldn’t get it right… I finally gave up, & continued doling out The Real Deal from the freezer by the teaspoon as a Special Foodie Treat. A few years later I saw a few versions of “Vietnamese Green Sauce” pop up for sale on several USA websites, including eBay & amazon, & I ordered them, but, although they looked the same, they weren’t the same at all- they were much sweeter, and the flavor profiles were all wrong. Down, now, to 1/3 of a bottle of The Real Deal in the deep freeze, I got Truly panicky, & PMed Fred again in foodie desperation, & he sent me back to the internet & You Tube. This time I literally pulled Every Single Recipe and YouTube Video for anything calling itself Vietnamese Green Sauce (in English, as I can’t read Vietnamese), & compared them. The ingredients were identical in almost all of them, but the proportions were different. (A few of the recipes added garlic or cilantro, but those flavors don’t seem present in the sauce we have from Saigon. Fred suggested the possibility of adding Green Mustard Leaves, which I will try in a future batch). I knew having the right chilies was Key, so I ordered a pound of fresh Green Thai Chilies on amazon, as well as MSG, which is indispensable for that “Umami Thing”, & fresh Makrut (Kaffir) Lime Leaves from an eBay grower in California who picks them to order (see Notes below). I got the fresh limes, sugar, Kosher salt, & sweetened condensed milk locally, & started with the recipe that seemed the most promising.
After I made it, in our little Ninja food processor, I put a tablespoon of The Real Deal Sauce on a plate to compare it with… & mine was wrong. The Real Deal hits you first with the pepper heat & lime, then the sweetness of the condensed milk kicks in, along with a bit of saltiness- which mine didn’t exactly do. Her sauce is thicker, too, with an almost gummy consistency. Either she adds something I don’t know about to give it a thicker texture, or, perhaps, Vietnamese sweetened condensed milk is thicker than the USA version? And the Real Deal Sauce is a lot greener- food coloring? But the real issue was the flavor profile. So I added more chopped Makrut (Kaffir) Lime Leaves, lime juice, & zest, & did my taste-test again- and again, and again… after my mouth stopped that joyful burning we chilheads so love, LOL.
Below is my recipe for Saigon-Style Vietnamese Green Sauce, which is pretty darn great, if I say so, myself, and, I believe, comes very close to the amazing stuff we had in Buon Ma Thout & Saigon. It’s still a work-in-progress, however, and so if anyone out there knows of any Secret Ingredients, PLEASE let me know! Although the internet plays “Green Sauce” up as a seafood sauce, in Vietnam we had it with roast meats, which is my fave way to use it. It is also Fabulous as a dip for french fries & cocktail meatballs, and, honestly, you can slather it on seafood, noodles, BBQ, dumplings, rice, a sandwich (think: Bahn Mi…), or, probably, on a piece of cardboard, & make them all delicious!
Note: De-seeding the skinny Thai Chilis is a royal pain, but necessary- leaving the seeds in will change the texture, and will also make it a Lot hotter. (Save the seeds & dry them on a paper towel, and use them to jazz up anything that needs some serious jazzing). If you de-seed them by hand, without wearing gloves, (as I do, LOL), don't touch any place on your body for a week. :-) Fresh Makrut (Kaffir) Lime Leaves are also key, as their flavor & aroma are much more intense & delicious than what you get from the dried ones. They're a key ingredient in many Asian dishes, such as Tom Yum Gai Soup, so they won't go to waste! Luckily, there is an eBay seller in California, who picks them to order: milano_5461: https://www.ebay.com/itm/187330078652
Saigon-Style Vietnamese Green Sauce
20 thai chillies (seeds removed)
8 tablespoons fresh lime juice + the juice of one more lime
6 tablespoons Sweetened Condensed Milk
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons Kosher salt
2 tablespoons MSG
3 fresh Makrut (Kaffir) Lime Leaves, chopped
Zest from 3 limes
8 tablespoons fresh lime juice + the juice of one more lime
6 tablespoons Sweetened Condensed Milk
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons Kosher salt
2 tablespoons MSG
3 fresh Makrut (Kaffir) Lime Leaves, chopped
Zest from 3 limes
