Vietnamese Dipping Sauce Recipes

Steps:

• Stir the sugar and warm water together in a bowl until the sugar dissolves completely; add the fish sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, Thai chile peppers, and green onion to the mixture.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, combine the fish sauce, rice vinegar, water, sugar, garlic powder and chile pepper. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Taste to make sure the sweet, sour, salty and spicy flavors are balanced and adjust if necessary. Pour into bottles and seal with lids.

Steps:

• Stir water, chile peppers, garlic, fish sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar together in a saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves into the liquid; remove from heat and set aside to cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Stir lemon juice into the cooled liquid.

Steps:

• Whisk vinegar, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, garlic, and red pepper flakes together in a small bowl. Set the dipping sauce aside.
• Fill a large bowl with room temperature water. Add rice vermicelli and soak for 1 hour.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop in shrimp and cook until curled and pink, about 1 minute. Remove the shrimp and drain. Slice each shrimp in half lengthwise. Transfer rice vermicelli noodles to the pot of boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Remove and drain in a colander. Immediately rinse the vermicelli with cold water, stirring to separate the noodles.
• To assemble the rolls, dip 1 rice wrapper in a large bowl of room temperature water for a few seconds to soften. Place wrapper on a work surface and top with 4 shrimp halves, 1/4 of the chopped lettuce, 1/2 ounce vermicelli, and 1/4 each of the mint, cilantro, and Thai basil. Fold right and left edges of the wrapper over the ends of the filling and roll up the spring roll. Repeat with remaining wrappers and ingredients. Cut each roll in half and serve with dipping sauce.

Steps:

• Cut the chilies into thin rings. Remove one-third of the chilies and set aside for garnish. Place the remaining chilies, garlic and sugar in a mortar, and pound into a coarse, wet paste. (If you don't have a mortar, just chop with a knife.) Transfer to a small bowl and add the water, lime juice and fish sauce. Stir well to dissolve. Add the reserved chilies and carrots. Set aside for 10 minutes before serving.
• NOTE: Nuoc cham is very amenable to variations and adaptations. In Vietnam, cooks like to use various vegetables to flavor the sauce, such as thinly sliced marinated daikon and carrots, ginger, scallion oil or peanuts and even slices of kohlrabi and the core of a white cabbage. Each imparts a distinctive savoriness.

Steps:

• Warm 3 tablespoons of the peanut oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet until nearly smoking. Add the peanuts and stir. Remove from the heat and continue stirring until the peanuts are toasted and then allow to cool.
• Place the peanuts in a food processor and puree to a rough paste. Add the chili peppers, ginger, garlic, coconut milk, soy and fish sauces, sugar, lime juice and salt. Puree until almost smooth. Place the peanut mixture into a bowl and, with a wooden spoon, stir in the remaining peanut oil until the sauce has a nice sheen. Stir in the minced coriander. Use the sauce as a dip for grilled meat, or as a sauce for cold noodle salad.

Steps:

• Peel carrot lengthwise with a vegetable peeler. Stack carrot slices and cut into very fine long julienne strips.
• In a bowl, mash the garlic with the sugar. Add remaining ingredients and carrot slices and mix well.

Steps:

• With a mortar and pestle, pound garlic, chile paste, and fresh chile into a paste (or mince together with a knife). Transfer to a bowl. Add fish sauce, 2/3 cup hot water, lime juice, and sugar. Whisk together until sugar dissolves. Serve sprinkled with carrots.