For Vietnamese-Style French Fries, Serve With A Sweet And Buttery Dip

Ketchup naturally goes with french fries for many Americans, the ideal partner for deep-fried potatoes. But that's not necessarily true for the rest of the world, where there are as many different sauces and toppings for fries as you can think of, adapted to local tastes and ingredients. In Vietnam, for example, it's common to enjoy french fries, called khoai tây chiên, with an almost dessert-like dip made of a small scoop of butter with a side of sugar. People eat the sweet and buttery combo by dipping crisp fries into the softened butter and then granulated white sugar.

The sweetness of sugar against the fried starchiness of potatoes isn't as unusual as it might seem. After all, ketchup is both sweet and tangy, and who hasn't dunked a fry into sweet and savory honey mustard or barbecue sauce? Sugar can enhance flavor just like salt, even with foods like french fries that we don't typically associate with sweetness. For example, French movie theaters sell sweet popcorn — similar to kettle corn — alongside salty popcorn, and fried dough zeppole are elevated by a dusting of powdered sugar.

While Americans don't usually dip fries into butter, many do appreciate how butter's creamy richness complements potatoes in other ways, like topping a loaded baked potato along with sour cream or blending it with milk to create velvety mashed potatoes.

Vietnam isn't alone in liking a sweet or buttery partner for their french fries. In Japan and South Korea, it's popular to have them with honey butter, a similar combination made with melted butter and mellow honey blended together and dribbled over the fries. In the Philippines, they like using banana ketchup, which has vinegar, spices, and sugar similar to regular ketchup, but is made with bananas instead of tomatoes, giving it a sweeter, fruitier flavor. You can get creative with your own sweet or buttery pairings too, like coating piping hot fries with a cinnamon-sugar-vanilla mixture, or tossing fries in a garlic butter sauce with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese for an Italian flair.

Try out these sweet and buttery global favorites and enjoy more dipping sauces and toppings with fries by making a french fry board. Arrange different types of fries, like crinkle cut, curly, waffle fries, or rustic-looking homemade ones, with a range of sauces and toppings. Include sweet ones too, like sweet chili sauce, honey with spicy sriracha, or even maple syrup. And since it's all about fries, don't forget fry sauce, a mix of ketchup and mayo with add-ins like pickle juice, garlic powder, and spices that's popular in the western U.S. and especially loved in Utah.