Vietnamese Peanut Sauce

This is another easy sauce, it's not just for spring roll dipping. I also use it for cold noodles with some shredded cucumbers. Believe or not, it's quite delicious. Here is the Nước Tương Chấm recipe.

Peanut sauce made fresh from my kitchen

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 5 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 4 tbsp smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 cup water

Directions: 

1. Heat pan on medium heat, then add oil and garlic. 
2. Sauté until lightly browned.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients one by one and mix well.
4. Turn the heat up to medium high and bring to a boil.
5. Once it hits a boil immediately turn off the heat
6. Use a whisk to blend till smooth.
7. Remove from heat and chill, or serve right away.
8. You can add some crushed peanuts on top before serving
9. If you use sugar-free peanut butter, a tbsp of sugar would help sweeten it

Vietnamese Pickled Carrots & Daikon

Whenever I eat a Vietnamese sandwich (Bánh Mì), I always pig out on the Pickled Carrots and Daikon (Đồ Chua) from the sandwich. This is probably the easiest side dish to make. It can go in many dishes other than sandwich, you can find them on spring rolls (Goi Cuon), savory crepes (Bánh Xèo), grilled pork and noodles (BúnThịt Nướng), egg rolls (Chả Gìo), rice plates, vermicelli bowls or just eating by itself.

After rinsed from the salt bath

Here is the Đồ Chua recipe I learned from eating at Vietnamese restaurants.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb daikon radish
• 1/2 lb carrots
• 1 tbsp salt
• 3/4 cup boiling water
• 5 tbsp sugar
• Water at room temperature
• 6 tbsp distilled vinegar

Cut carrots & daikon into matchsticks

Instructions:

1. Peel daikon and carrots, julienne them to small matchsticks. 
2. Place them in a large bowl, sprinkle with salt evenly and toss to coat. 
3. Soak for 15 minutes.
4. Rinse thoroughly with room-temperature water to remove salt. Squeeze in small handfuls to remove liquid as much as you can.
5. Add the vegetables to jar to near the top.
6. Boil water then mix sugar to dissolve, then add vinegar in a cup.
7. Pour the liquid into the jar. 
8. Put the lid on. Do not refrigerate but check every 12 hours. 
9. Ready to serve in 2 days, if thickness of the cut is close to matchsticks.

Mix salt into the carrots & daikon

Vegan Fish Sauce Recipe

Often times, my vegan friends ask me about vegan option of Goi Cuon (Vietnamese Spring Rolls). I said, it's easy to make them but the dipping sauce is not vegan. Traditionally, Nước Chấm is made with fish sauce that has been fermenting for 2 years. Because the source of fish is unknown, there might be trace of shrimps in the sauce. So, to be on the safe side, let's make a vegan fish sauce.

First of all, you have to buy Pineapple Fish Flavored Sauce. I bought mine at San San Tofu in Houston Asiatown (west of Beltway). If you don't have vegan fish sauce, just use the regular fish sauce on the market. Don't drink the fish sauce from the bottle. It's very salty.

Fresh Fish Sauce Made Fresh from My Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp Fish Sauce of your choice
• 3 tbsp Sugar
• 7 tbsp Water
• 1 tsp Minced Garlic

Directions

1. Heat water in microwave for 1 minute. Combine warm water with sugar in a bowl. Stir until sugar dissolved.
2. Set the liquid aside to let it cool.
3. Add fish sauce and minced garlic to the mixture.
4. Stir well.
5. If you want it spicy, slice a fresh chili pepper and put them in the liquid mixture including the seeds. Or, you can add a tsp of chili sauce in the mixture.
6. You can garnish it with strings of shredded carrots.

Different ways to add spiciness to this dipping sauce 

"This Vietnamese sauce is usually served with spring rolls (both fresh and fried), Vietnamese grilled meats like Vietnamese sausages (nem nướng) and grilled lemongrass pork chops (thit heo nuong xa), and vermicelli noodle bowls." (Source)