Dipping Sauces for Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Author Notes

I've included two popular dipping sauces here: a fish sauce-based sauce and a hoisin peanut sauce. Like the spring rolls, these dipping sauces are highly customizable, and restaurants will often have their own signature sauce. —Betty

Test Kitchen Notes

Betty, who developed these dipping sauces, also created a recipe for spring rolls as well. As she says, you can make them according to whatever you have on hand and enjoy. You can include pork, shrimp, or prawns and all sorts of different vegetable and herbs. In Vietnam, prawns are more traditional, but you can definitely use shrimp instead. She also includes some type of pork (loin, shoulder, and/or belly), but if it's a hot summer day out and you want a lighter roll, you don't have to use any pork. She's also enjoyed spring rolls with shredded mango or shiso leaves.

In her recipe, she suggests a combination of pork, shrimp, vermicelli, carrot, cucumber, mint, Thai basil, cilantro, and garlic chives. As she mentions, you can use all of these ingredients or swap out for your own, but do try to use that Thai basil if possible: "The distinctive taste of Thai basil gives the spring rolls a stamp of authenticity. You should be able to find Thai basil in most Asian supermarkets, but if you can’t, omit basil altogether and use additional cilantro, mint, or shiso in its place."

The dipping sauces are as versatile as the spring rolls you make, and the best part is both are make ahead-friendly. But the sauces do feature classic ingredients, like fish sauce, chiles, hoisin sauce, garlic, and peanut butter. Feel free to experiment with the ratios and whatever you've got in your kitchen to come up with your favorite dipping sauce combinations. —The Editors