The Vietnamese new year (Tết) falls on February 14 this year. And as a lead into the new year, I’ll be blogging about cooking and fashion, two fun topics that I hope to cover more this year.

Today I’m actually just talking about the two different sauces that are used for spring rolls (the ones that are not fried like your basic egg rolls). There’s always the tried and true nÆ°á»›c chấm that’s fish sauce based:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLm0e90hBHU

Alternatively, there’s the nÆ°á»›c tÆ°Æ¡ng, which is a hoisin sauce based dipping sauce that’s a bit sweeter, thicker, and richer to the taste:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1q1okltDrQ

And this is the recipe for it:

NÆ°á»›c tÆ°Æ¡ng

1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon corn starch
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon crushed roasted peanuts (optional)

Blend all ingredients except for the crushed peanuts well over very low heat for a few minutes until the corn starch is fully dissolved. Add a touch of water if it is too thick. Remove from pan and let it cool.

Add red chili sauce (Sriracha or any other brand) to taste.

Sprinkle crushed roasted peanuts on top if desired. Serves 2-3 people or 6 large rolls.

In the above photos I am serving the sauce with (click on this link for the recipe) nem nÆ°á»›ng as previously shown here:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ0gtoWQSzE

And in this more recent video, I’m showing my trick of rolling the perfect spring roll. There’s nothing to it–just roll with it!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIhI30Z_yE4