Dipping Sauces
Note: The possibilities for experimenting with dipping sauces are endless. Martha
Stewart uses dried ancho chiles, ketchup, orange juice, and cumin as key
ingredients in her dipping sauce recipe for serving with black-eyed pea fritters.
The first two recipes below are outstanding and easy. You can use any of them for stir frying meat or vegetables -- for example, tempura, Spring Rolls, fried rice. They can also be used as a sauce or a marinade. The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) advises that marinades be discarded, not used for basting or as a sauce over cooked food, because it may contain bacteria in raw meat that could lead to food-borne illnesses. At the same time, the AICR says marinades may reduce the formation of cancer-causing substances created during grilling or other forms of cooking at high heat, e.g. stir frying.
See also Mom Dorrington's Buffalo Wings Dips and Seafood Sauces.
1. Vietnamese Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Cham)
Double this--it only makes about 1/2 cup.
1 1/2 T sugar
1 T soy sauce or fish sauce
juice of 1 lime
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cp water
3/4 t cornstarch and 2 T water, if necessary, for thickening
1. Combine sugar and water in small saucepan. Heat till sugar dissolves.
2. Cool, then add remaining ingredients and mix well. Serve at room temperature, but do
not store.
3. Mix cornstarch and 2 T water, and stir into the sauce if necessary.
2. Thai Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce
1 T peanut oil
1/4 cp finely chopped shallots
1/4 cp finely chopped garlic
1 T dried hot pepper flakes
1/4 cp fish sauce (or chicken soup)
1 t brown sugar
1 T tamarind pulp dissolved in 1/4 cp warm water (or lime or lemon juice)
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 T fresh cilantro if available, chopped
1. Heat oil in small skillet and saute shallots, garlic, and hot pepper flakes till
brown.
Remove from heat.
2. Combine fish sauce or soup and sugar in small saucepan. Strain tamarind or lime juice,
extracting all liquid. Bring to boil, stirring to dissolve sugar, then remove from heat.
3. Stir in shallot-garlic mixture and remaining ingredients. Serve warm or at room
temperature.
3. Duck Sauce with Scallions
Makes about 3/4 cup
1/4 cp peach, apricot, or plum preserves.
2 T white vinegar
1/2 t soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced (opt)
1 scallion, chopped
3/4 t cornstarch
1. Combine preserves and vinegar in small saucepan. Bring to boil.
2. Add soy, garlic and scallion. Return to boil.
3. Mix cornstarch and 2 T water, and stir into the sauce.
4. Cook till sauce becomes thickened and transparent, about 2 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and cool.
Harrowsmith, 1988
4. Cranberry Port Sauce for Maple Roasted Duck
Note: This recipe is by Michael Gray, chef at the Hanover Inn, Hanover NH, and appeared in an old New England magazine. We don't eat duck, but it might be good with with poultry or pork roast.
For the Maple and Cranberry Marinade:
1/2 cp cranberries, crushed
2 med shallots, minced
1 T whole juniper berries, crushed
1/4 cp maple syrup
6 thyme sprigs
2 T port
ground black pepper
Mix and marinade meat overnight.
For the Cranberry Port Sauce:
2 1/2 cps chicken stock or broth
2 cps port
1/2 cp cranberries, crushed
2 T maple syrup
2 T butter
The recipe boils necks and wing tips in the chicken stock, then combines the strained stock with the marinade and remaining sauce ingredients. (As noted above, marinades can contain bacteria.) The sauce is served over the roasted meat.
5. Horseradish Sauce 1
Note: The Catfish Institute inspired this recipe.
1 cup créme fraîche or cream
1/2 cup prepared horseradish, drained
1 t`Dijon mustard
1/2 t dry mustard
1 t dill
1 t lemon juice
6 drops Worcestershire sauce
Blend all ingredients and chill.
6. Horseradish Sauce 2 -- Wasabi Sauce
Mix 2 t wasabi powder with 2 t water to make a paste (or substitute prepared horseradish
and pep it up with white pepper if it's not spicy).
Combine with:
1/3 cp mayonnaise
1/3 cp sour cream
Serve with okra tempura or other dishes calling for dipping sauces.
Washington Post,
Steven Raichlen
7. Hoisin-Style Sauce
1/4 cup prepared Hoisin sauce
3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1/4 cup fat-free, reduced-sodium non-fat chicken broth
1 Tbsp. sesame seed oil
1 Tbsp. peanut or canola oil
2-4 tsp. minced peeled fresh ginger, or to taste
1 Tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp. orange juice
1-2 tsp. Chinese-style mustard, or to taste
Place all ingredients in blender and pureé until smooth.
Mixture can be used as a marinade immediately. Place mixture in shallow, wide
pan and add chicken, fish, or meat, turning pieces so all sides are coated.
Before using as a sauce, let mixture stand at room temperature for 1 hour or
covered and refrigerated up to 1 day to allow flavors to fully develop. Heat
mixture over medium heat until hot. Transfer sauce to pitcher. When ready to
use, drizzle small amount of sauce in center of plates, place cooked chicken,
fish, or meat on top and drizzle small amount of sauce over top.
Makes 1 cup.
Per tablespoon: 25 calories, 2 g. fat (less than 1 g. saturated fat), 2 g.
carbohydrate, 0 g. protein, 0 g. dietary fiber, 116 mg. sodium.
American Institute for Cancer Research
8. Lemon Basil Butter
1/3 cp unsalted butter
2 T snipped fresh basil or 2 t dried basil
2 T fresh lemon juice
1/8 t garlic powder.
1. Heat butter in small saucepan.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients and heat til well blended. Makes about 1/2 cp.
9. Honey Mustard Sauce
1/2 cp mayonnaise
1/3 cp Dijon mustard
2 T honey
1 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
Tabasco sauce to taste
salt to taste
Inspired by Gourmet Magazine. See also Mom's Dipping
Sauces for a similar mustard sauce.