Vietnamese Sauces Recipes

VIETNAMESE SAUCES

Steps:

• Nooc Cham (regular and vegetarian):.
• Combine all the ingredients and dissolve the sugar completely. This works easily with stevia instead of the sugar. I use 2-4 drops.
• Keeps in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Store in tightly sealed glass container in the fridge.
• Vietnamese Peanut Sauce:.
• Using a food processor or mortar, pound peanuts to a course powder. Set aside.
• Sieve the tamarind and water. Set aside the liquid, discard the solids.
• Heat the oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Add garlic and stir fry about 15 seconds, until color begins to change. Toss in the pork and cook until it is cooked through.
• Add soybean paste and tamarind and stir until blended. Add 1/2 cup of water. Then stir in most of the ground peanuts (reserve 1 T for garnish). Add the sguar and chiles. Add water until you reach the desired texture (thick and pourable, but not watery).
• Serve at room temperature or warmer. Squeeze a lime over it and add the reserved peanuts.
• This keeps in the refrigerator for 3 days or freezes for one month. Reheat before serving.

NUOC CHAM (VIETNAMESE DIPPING SAUCE)

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.

VIETNAMESE DIPPING SAUCE

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.

VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLLS WITH DIPPING SAUCE

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.

VIETNAMESE DIPPING SAUCE (NUOC CHAM)

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.

VIETNAMESE 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.