I saw this recipe on NYTimes Cooking and thought I would give it a try or, rather, I thought I would encourage John to give it a try.

Vietnamese flank steak with cucumber salad and rice

Luckily John does not need a lot of encouragement to try something new to grill so he whips up the sauce which serves as a marinade for the meat, a dressing for the cucumbers, and a dipping sauce.

The sauce consists of a 1/2 cup of fish sauce plus some lime juice and zest, garlic, brown sugar, and jalapeño. For my taste it is fine although a little salty for the meat but way too fishy for the cucumber and radish salad that I make. I just do not expect to have the pungent aroma of fermented fish hit me as I am taking a forkful of cucumbers.

Next time we will make the sauce/marinade with less fish sauce and more lime juice and brown sugar. It should be perfect then.