Vietnamese Table Sauce Recipes

CLASSIC VIETNAMESE DIPPING SAUCE (NướC CHấM)

Steps:

• Set the carrots aside. Add the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix it together until the sugar completely dissolves. Add the shredded carrots right before serving. Makes about 1 cup of sauce.

SAIGON CREPES WITH VIETNAMESE TABLE SALAD AND CILANTRO LIME DIPPING SAUCE

Steps:

• Toast mung beans lightly in a pan. Transfer to a bowl and soak in water to soften.;
• For the cilantro lime dipping sauce:
• Add the garlic cloves, fresh ginger, chili paste, cilantro, soy sauce, lime juice and pulp, water, and sugar, 1 ingredient at a time through the feed opening of a running blender. Allow "sauce" to rest for 10 minutes before tasting and adjusting seasoning with salt and pepper, as needed. Pour into individual dipping bowls.
• Assemble the table salad by arranging the lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts, mint, basil, cilantro, rau ram, and saw leaf herb in separate mounds on a serving platter.
• Prepare the filling for the crepes by tossing the bean sprouts, cilantro leaves, and scallions together.
• To cook the crepes, drain the mung beans and combine in a blender with coconut milk, water, rice flour, sugar, salt, and turmeric. Puree until smooth, and then strain into a small pitcher. Heat a crepe pan with a small amount of oil, and pour a thin layer of batter into the hot pan. When the crepe is cooked though and the down side is crisp, add the filling (bean sprouts, cilantro and scallions), fold the crepe in half and transfer to a serving plate. Serve crepes with table salad and dipping sauce.

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.

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.