Nanmi (Dai Dipping Sauce)

Nanmi is the Dai umbrella term for a family of pounded sauces, most often made by crushing roasted tomatoes, chillies, garlic and herbs with lime juice and salt into a vividly sour, hot and savoury paste.

Nanmi comes from the Dai of Xishuangbanna, who season with tropical herbs and lime and pound roasted fruits and vegetables into sauces for dipping, the concentrated expression of the sour-and-hot Dai palate.

Nanmi is the all-purpose dip of the Dai table, spooned onto grilled fish and meat, raw vegetables, rice noodles and wild greens alike, an everyday seasoning no Dai meal does without.

Its sour-hot character built on roasted tomato and fresh chilli, and its use as a dip for nearly everything, are what set nanmi apart from other regional sauces.