DIY springroll-rollfeast II, the dipping sauces

If you thought the banh trang on its own was delicious, wait till you try dipping them. You can buy all different kinds of sauces in the store. I'm a big sucker for a good spicy sweet chili sauce and let's be honest, who isn't? But you can also play with the sauces and make them even more yummy.

Nouc mam cham vietnamese fishsauce
Nouc mam cham is the traditional sauce for banh trang, the sauce has to be a perfect balance between sweet, sour, salty and spicy.

Unfortunately for all you vegetarians out there who also don't eat fish, this is a no go for you. But don't be to sad, my chinese grandmother is also a vegetarian and I know that she and my aunt always make a vegetarian version of this sauce. Until now I didn't got my hands on it, but I will be visiting them for the holidays and will ask for the recipe. So you have to stayed tuned, have a little bit of patients, the moment I get my hands on it, it will be here!

1/2-1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
1 cup of vinegar
1 cup of fish sauce
1 big chilli
2 cloves of garlic

Mix the sugar with the water, until the sugar is dissolved. Then add the vinegar, stir, add the fish sauce and stir again. Chop up the chilli and garlic as small as possible. Pop these in the mixture and whisk away. Taste and see if the flavors are balanced.

Nouc Tuong Ngot Hoisin-Peanut sauce
When I was in San Fransico, visiting my cousin and her family, she would get me ready and rolled banh trang, also known as 'Nems'. My favorite nem was filled with lettuce, rice noodles, pork, prawns and beautiful herbs. On the side there was always a small cup filled with this thick dark luscious sauce.

Once I got back to Los Angeles my other cousin explained the compontents of the sauce. Then I suddenly remembered that I had it before. When I was in my late teens I was visiting my aunt and uncle in Paris, I helped my aunt make this sort of nems. When we were setting the table everybody got a runny thin dark sauce and a hand of salted peanuts. She explained to me that normally you would chop them up and put them in the sauce, but for now we would just add then to our bites.

So when I got back home I was confused. I liked both the thick sauce I had in SF, but also liked the thin sauce I had in Paris. So after trying for many many times I found out the secret; peanut butter.

4 tablespoons of hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons of peanut butter, for more crunch use a peanut butter with chunks
1/2 cup of water
Optinal: whole of chopped peanuts

Put all the ingredients in a small saucepan. Put on low heat and stir until well combined.
Taste, add more peanut butter if you like it more nuttier. Add more hoisin if you think the peanut is to strong. Sounds easy, right? Well it is, but from now on you can go thick or thin. Add more water if you want a thinner sauce or let the sauce thicken for a thicker sauce. If you would prefer some crunch, you can always add some whole or chopped peanuts or use a chunky peanut butter.

Chilli sauce
On this I have to say I'm lazy, for years and years I have the same brand of chillisauce and don't care to make it myself. So I would say, get that old bottle of chilli sauce you still have somewhere in the back of your pantry or buy one in the store and just enjoy!