Brodards in Orange County has done an incredible job of elevating Vietnamese culture and bringing our food to the masses. It is now arguably one of the most well-known Vietnamese restaurants in the entire world! They popularized a Vietnamese classic called Nem Nướng Cuốn (Grilled Pork Sausage Spring Roll). Even more popular than the spring roll itself, though, is the bright orange sauce that it comes with. Brodard’s Special Sauce is a dipping sauce created in Nha Trang, located in the Khánh Hòa province of Vietnam.
The sauce combines sticky/glutinous rice and ground pork blended with crab paste, annatto seed oil, and seasonings to create a magical sauce full of body and flavor! Shoutout to whoever invented the sauce because who would even think of blending sticky rice and pork together?!
While Brodard’s sauce has direct lineage to the sauce created in Nha Trang, it was adapted to a more American palate. Specifically, they chose to omit both pork liver and shrimp heads.
After a lot of R&D, trials, and errors, I’ve come to this sauce recipe that tastes nearly identical to what Brodard offers at their restaurant. I hope you try this recipe, and let me know what you think what you think in the comments! Stay tuned for the full recipe breakdown on how to make their Nem Nuong Cuon from scratch!
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Is it supposed to be 1 cup cooked or uncooked sticky rice? Tried last time and used 1 cup uncooked and the sauce was far too thick.
Hey Carolyn, I used 1 cup uncooked sticky rice. The sauce should be fairly thick, but if it's not to your liking you can definitely reduce the amount of sticky rice or increase the amount of water.
Here's an accompanying video for the sauce:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaZGBX0s3Iw&t=1s&ab_channel=feedthepudge
Hello! Can I freeze the sauce? Thank you
Yes! Will hold in the freezer for a few weeks!
If I want to make this the day before a party, will the sauce thicken? Should I add water when reheating it?
Making the day before is fine - the sauce will hold in the fridge for about 3-4 days with no issue. When you're reaheating it, feel free to add more water if thickens.
If one were to want to add pork liver, how would you go about that?
Great question - first the day before I would soak the liver in some milk to help reduce it's odor. Then when you're ready to cook, just drain and give it a quick rinse, and add it right after you add the ground pork. For this recipe, I'd probably recommend 1/4-1/3lb to start. Hope this helps!