

When it comes to combining sweet and salty, the Thai people are second to none. We’re just really good at it. Watermelon and dried fish? Check. Sweet custard with fried shallots? Check. Garlicky, shrimpy, spicy fruit salad? Yup. Mangoes — apples in this case — with a dipping sauce containing shrimp paste, fish sauce, and dried shrimp? A national favorite.

This sticky fruit dip called nam-pla wan (น้ำปลาหวาน)[1] is most often served with tart green mangoes (sliced lengthwise and thinly to make it easy for you to scoop up the chunky sauce with them). In fact, the name of this sauce is hardly ever invoked in isolation from the word mango, ma-muang (มะม่วง).

However, I’ve found that this dipping sauce also goes very well with other fruits as long as they’re tart (and preferably firm in texture). This sweet and salty (and somewhat hot) dip begs for a companion that is sour. Together they form the famous sour-salty-sweet-hot flavor combination which you love so much about Thai cuisine.

The slightly tart and tannic santol works very well with this dip. Under-ripe pineapple is also a good candidate. My favorite? Tart, crisp apples. Granny Smith is the best.

It used to be that I regarded tart apples as a substitute for green mangoes which can be hard to find in my neck of the woods, but I have now considered tart apples as right up there with the more traditional green mangoes. In fact — and don’t tell the mangoes — I much prefer tart apples these days.

Apples, dried shrimp, shrimp paste, chilies, and fish sauce can co-exist harmoniously. Who knew?



The best nam-pla wan I have ever had in my life is sold at Je Paeo (เจ๊แป๊ว), a fruit-dip stand in Chinatown, Bangkok. They set up their stand around 7:00 p.m. with a humongous glass jar of nam-pla wan. By 9:00 p.m., the glass jar is almost empty.

But good nam-pla wan can be found anywhere in Bangkok. At Or Tor Kor Market, there’s a vendor that sets out a bowl of nam-pla wan and green mango slices for people to sample while telling them about all the celebrities who drive across town to the market just to buy her famous dipping sauce. In the fruit section of the freeloaders’ paradise, also known as the supermarket inside Siam Paragon, they also often set out a bowl of nam-pla wan and green mango slices for you, especially during the mango season.

Though Nam-pla Wan and mangoes is such a common dish in Thailand, its popularity has not crossed over to North America or Europe. Most likely, it’s not on your favorite Thai restaurant’s menu. And the reasons are pretty obvious. So, if you’d like to find out what it tastes like, you’re going to have to make it yourself.

Fortunately, it’s very easy to make. Oh, and please don’t be scared by the shrimpy and fishy elements; they become subtle and mellow.

Nam-Pla Wan – Thai Sweet and Salty Fruit Dipping Sauce (น้ำปลาหวาน)

Makes about 2 cups

Printable Version



330g of palm sugar (or, as I prefer 165g of palm sugar plus 165g of either brown sugar or unrefined cane sugar)

1/3 cup (80 mL) fish sauce

8g shrimp paste

2 large (46g) shallots, peeled and cut into thin slices lengthwise

66g dried shrimp, divided

Small dried red chilies (I use arbol), to taste