Summer Rolls and Nước Chấm, a Ubiquitous Vietnamese Dipping Sauce

This is my twenty-first offering in the 2025 Alphabet Challenge, our second year of working our way through the alphabet with recipes. It's actually the 22nd post for the group, but I missed the letter 'R' because I was traveling. But I'm back for the rest of the year. It's hard to believe that we are into the final quarter of the year...and the alphabet. We post every other week for the entire alphabet and this is year two. Thanks for starting this series, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm.

V is for...

• Cranberry Orange Vinaigrette by Jolene’s Recipe Journal

• Mirabelle Plum Vodka by Food Lust People Love

• Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies by Blogghetti

• Salata De Varza Rosie by Mayuri’s Jikoni

• Summer Rolls and Nước Chấm, a Ubiquitous Vietnamese Dipping Sauce by Culinary Cam (you're here)

• Sweet Tea Vodka Vegetable Couscous Soup by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice

• Vangi Bath Masala - Homemade by Sneha’s Recipe

• Vanilla Bean Sable Cookies by Karen’s Kitchen Stories

• Vaquero Chicken by A Day in the Life on the Farm

• Vichy Carrots by A Messy Kitchen

Nước Chấm, a Ubiquitous Vietnamese Dipping Sauce

October on California's Central Coast brings a late heat wave and it still feels like summer. After getting a bounty of edible flowers from Farmer Janna Jo at the Earthbound Farm Stand, I made fresh summer rolls whose transparent rice papers would showcase those gorgeous blooms for my collaborative Happy Hour with The Quail & Olive and Big Sur Vineyards.

Nước Chấm a ubiquitous Vietnamese dipping sauce. It's a blend of fish sauce, water, sugar, citrus, and spice. Typically it's made with freshly squeezed lime juice; I swapped in the Kaffir Lime Vinegar from The Quail & Olive.

Ingredients

This is easily doubled or halved as you need. Just keep the ratio of 1:1:2 of fish sauce to citrus (or vinegar) to water. And you can adjust the sweetness to your liking, but my usual is 1 Tablespoon sugar to each 1/2 cup of water.

• 1 cup water

• 4 Tablespoons granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup fish sauce

• 1/2 cup Kaffir Lime Vinegar plus more as needed

• 2 green onions, trimmed and chopped

• 1 Tablespoon carrot, finely chopped

• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

• 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemongrass

• 1 teaspoon garlic, peeled and pressed

• 1 to 2 red Thai chile, thinly sliced

• Also needed: a large lidded jar

Procedure

Place water and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat until steaming. Swirl the pan to dissolve the sugar completely. In a lidded jar, pour in the fish sauce and vinegar. Add in the carrots, ginger, lemongrass, garlic, and Thai chile. Pour in the syrup and stir till combined. Stir again just before serving.

Summer Rolls

I have always called these 'Fresh Spring Rolls', then I learned that people call them 'Summer Rolls.' Even more perfect with a summer dish and a summer wine.

Ingredients

• 24 rice paper rounds

2 cups each

• julienned carrots (I used purple carrots)

• thinly sliced bell peppers (I used red, yellow, and orange peppers)

• thinly sliced zucchini

• thinly sliced radishes

• trimmed beech mushrooms

• blanched asparagus, cut to 2-inch lengths

• blanched green beans, cut to 2-inch lengths

• quick pickled julienned carrots and daikon radishes

• quick pickled thinly sliced red onions

• edible flowers

4 cups each

• fresh herbs (I used cilantro, parsley, mint, and basil), destemmed and torn

• prepared bean thread noodles tossed with toasted sesame oil to keep them from sticking (cut noodles to 3-inch lengths

• Also needed: water for dipping rice paper rounds, Nước Chấm for serving

Procedure

Fill a pie pan with cold water. One at a time, dip 1 sheet of rice paper in the cold water for 15 to 20 seconds to soften slightly. You will get a feel for how pliable you need the paper to roll. Place wrapper on a clean work surface

Place the flowers facedown on the wrapper. Top with herbs (the green is a great contrast to the flowers), then noodles and veggies. The order isn't important just get as many colors and textures as you can.

Fold short ends over the filling and roll as tightly as you can to enclose. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Keep the rolls separated as they will stick together if they touch.

Serve at room temperature with the dipping sauce.

This Time Last Year...

My posts are below with links to everyone else's recipes. I skipped letter 'F' apparently. Enjoy!

• A Reclaimed Æbleskiver Pan + Æbleskiver Bread Pudding

• Börek with a California Twist

• Crab-Stuffed Ravioli

• Dark Chocolate-Juniper Panna Cotta

• Elderflower & Roasted Strawberry Layer Cake

• Aïgo Bouido (Provençal Garlic Soup)

• Halva with Fiori di Sicilia

• I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Saffron-Cardamom Ice Cream

• Bulgogi-Inspired Oven Beef Jerky

• Purple Napa Kimchi

• Lingcod Over Legumes

• Mushrooms in My Cookies? Yep. Candy Cap Cookies.

• Nocino, Italian Green Walnut Liqueur

• How to Shuck Oysters and a Few Serving Ideas

• A Parade of Pickles, Including Pickled Chard Stems

• Quesabirria Tacos

• Rose Petal-Strawberry Granita

• Buttermilk Shortcakes with Macerated Berries

• Toasted Croutons

• Curry Udon with Prawns

• Teriyaki Sauce-Swabbed Venison Burgers on Seeded Sourdough Buns

So Far This Year...

Again: my posts are below with links to everyone else's recipes.

• The Polarizing Anchovy + Egg Salad Niçoise

• A Belated Birthday Bûche De Noël (Yule Log)

• Lemon Lavender Blackberry Cake

• Gluten-Free Crystal Dumplings in Noodle Soup

• A Dozen Eggs - Stuffed, Scotch, Curried, and More

• Fig Leaf-Wrapped Cheese

• Garlicky Fregola with Edamame, Mint, and Ricotta

• Huckleberry & Earl Grey Tea Cakes

• Es Teler (Indonesian Drunk Ice)

• Inspired by a One-Word Text: Jjamppong

• A Fruit Formerly Known as ‘Kaffir’ + Makrut-Kissed Cookies

• Enamored with Culinary Lavender: From Sips to Sweets

• Mini Peach Galettes

• White Nectarine-Lime Jam

• Octopus: Takoyaki, a Japanese Snack Food, from a Santa Cruz Apartment

• Brunede Kartofler (Danish Caramel Potatoes)

• Quince Sharlotka

• I missed 'R' but you can see everyone's post in Wendy's R is for Rustic Rye Sourdough Loaf

• Semifreddo al Miele

• Bitter Orange and Blackberry Thumbprint Cookies

• Sea Urchin Crostini (and How to Clean Urchins)

That's a wrap for my offering for the letter 'v'. We will be back in two weeks with the letter 'w'. Stay tuned!