Dipping sauce refers to the condiment served with snacks. It is called dipping sauce because snacks are dipped in it and eaten. Snacks may be either vegetarian or non-vegetarian. It is commonly used with easy snacks like tortilla chips, French fries, cubed mutton pieces, fish fingers, pita bread and dumplings. Unlike other sauces, dipping sauce is not applied or added to the food while cooking. Most of the dipping sauces are based on sour cream, yogurt, mayonnaise and cheese. Tomatoes are also used as the main ingredient in making various kinds of dipping sauces. In almost all cuisines, dipping sauce is used as a condiment with almost all kind of snacks.
Types of Dipping Sauces
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Hoisin-based dipping sauce – Hoisin is a kind of Chinese dipping sauce. It is a thick barbeque dipping sauce seasoned with sugar, garlic, chili oil and ginger. Hoisin-based dipping sauce is mainly served with Asian dishes like noodles, grilled satay, meat and pork snacks and steamed buns.
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Soya-sauce dipping sauce – it is a classic dipping sauce mainly served with dumplings, noodles and white meat snacks. Vinegar, soya sauce and chili oil are the main ingredients for making this popular condiment. It can also be seasoned with minced ginger to give extra flavor.
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Sweet and sour dipping sauce- This is one of the most popular dipping sauce served with fried appetizers like fried tofu, fried chicken, fried fish and dumplings. This dipping sauce gives a nice sweet and tangy flavor to food. Vinegar, sugar, tomato sauce and Worchester sauce are mixed together to make sweet and sour dipping sauce. Pineapple can also be added to make variation in the recipe.
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Hot mustard sauce – The potent flavor of this dipping sauce goes well with deep-fried snacks like egg rolls and spring rolls. Mustard is mixed with ketchup to make a nice dipping sauce.
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Mayonnaise based dipping sauce – It is a creamy dipping sauce usually served with chips and fish fingers. It is a somewhat thick sauce and very easy to make.
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Yogurt-based dipping sauce- This condiment goes well with stir-fried or boiled vegetables. It is a low-calorie dish and very light.
Almost all dipping sauce dishes are very easy to make and tastes good with either fried or boiled snacks. To make a perfect dipping sauce it is very necessary to mix the ingredients in right quantity and the sauce consistency should be adjusted according to the preference. The selection of dipping sauce should be done according to the snacks served. Some of the popular dipping sauce dishes are peanut sauce, plum sauce, ginger scallion sauce and chili sauce.