I very rarely veer off my “tried and true” basic recipe for Vietnamese Nuoc Cham (dipping sauce with lime juice, fish sauce, chili peppers, sugar, water) for Vietnamese Spring Rolls. It’s easy, predictable and I can make the sauce just by taste without measuring anything!
But just because I *LOVE* something doesn’t mean that my entire family loves it too. My fish-fearing husband won’t touch it….and therefore my kids won’t dip in it either. Sigh. I keep telling the kids that, “Buddha is a happy eater (see his belly!?) and he would want you to eat like Mama, not Dad.”
My friend, Blender Girl (okay, her name is really Tess) just came out with a cookbook called The Blender Girl: Super-Easy, Super-Healthy Meals, Snacks, Desserts, and Drinks–100 Gluten-Free, Vegan Recipes.
I found a recipe for Orange Almond Sauce for Vietnamese Spring Rolls. Big massive hit all around. It’s creamy, light and made with almond butter and fresh citrus juices for something a little different.
If you vow to cook a little healthier this summer – take a look at Tess’ book with 100 recipes that are good for you. The blender does all the hard work! The book features smoothies you’d expect from a blender book – as well as sauces, soups, marinades, dressings and desserts.
The book is currently #3 cookbook on Amazon!
Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Orange Almond Sauce Recipe Video
Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Orange Almond Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
FOR THE SPRING ROLLS:
- 6 ounces dried rice vermicelli noodles
- 16 large dried rice paper wrappers
- 8 large lettuce leaves, preferably soft ones, halved and hard ribs removed
- 1 cup matchstick cut carrots
- 2 cucumbers, julienned
- 1-2 avocado, pitted, peeled and sliced
- 1-2 bell pepper, cored, julienned
- 1 cup loosely packed cilantro
- 1 cup loosely packed min
- 1 cup loosely packed basil
FOR THE ORANGE ALMOND SAUCE:
- 1/4 cup water, plus more as needed
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1/2 cup raw almond butter
- 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon honey or coconut nectar
- 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon wheat-free tamari or soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon roasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Soak the noodles in hot water for about 20 minutes, until soft. Drain.
- To assemble the rolls, fill a shallow dish half full with hot water (hot to the touch but not boiling. and submerge one rice paper wrapper for 5 seconds, let excess water drop off.
- Place wrapper on a clean, dry surface and fold in half to form a half-circle. The wrapper should still be a bit stiff, but will soften by the time you've finished filling with vegetables.
- Place a lettuce leaf in the middle of the half-circle and top it with a forkful of noodles, and then add a bit of each of the vegetables and herbs. Â
- Carefully roll up the Vietnamese Spring Roll and set it on a dish, seam-side down in single layer. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling. If not serving immediately, chill in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap.Â
- To make the dipping sauce, throw all of the ingredients into your blender and puree on high for about 1 minute, until well combined. You may want to add an additional tablespoon or two of water to thin out the sauce. Stir in sesame seeds. Serve alongside the rolls.
By the way, if you are looking for a juicer to make the orange and lime juice for the recipe, I recommend the Omega Masticating Juicer.
Did you try this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a review in the comment section! I always appreciate your feedback and I know other readers do, too!
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I am getting ready to make your Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Orange Almound Sauce,
Reading the list of ingredients for the Spring Rolls, the recipe calls for
1 cup loosely packed min. What is MIN? I cannot find any reference anywhere for this item.
i am going to make these , i live in Greece , so it is very hard for me to order your books bc of postage , it is outrageous prices , so i very much enjoy your recipes but want to ask what min is , i mean is their another name bc we don’t have a lot of Asian products here and i will have to try and see if Athens has this , but thank you I enjoy your recipes
I’m looking forward to making these – Thank You
Would love to try them with the sauce, great recipes for the summer.
Yum! I have never tried making these before but they are one of my all time favourite lunches. You have inspired me to give them a go … I wonder if my kids will go there …
Jan
I made these and they stuck together and stuck on the plate. How can you lay one on top of the other like in the picture and get them apart. should I spray them with oil?
I would love to make these. Sound so darn healthy and look that way too, but not the sauce. Would much rather have a soy type dipping sauce. Any suggestions for that sauce?
Dear Steamy Kitchen: Your blog is great. I look forward to the next recipe. J-AS
Thanks so much!
My oh my can not wait to try this sauce, I want to make them for a baby shower … it is alright to make the night before?? I never saw anyone fold the rice paper in half .. .. is there a reason that u do this???
I so look forward to hearing back for you ~
NAmaste’
Mary Jo
Mary Jo – The rice paper folded in half makes rolling SO much easier. And prettier too. I don’t like making the night before, they just don’t taste that great and the wrapper can dry out. You can make them the morning of.
Excellent recipe. So very delicious and so easy to make. Thank you so much for sharing. *munch munch* Yumm!
wow beautiful pictures. This looks good Im going to try It over the weekend thanks:)
This sauce looks absolutely delicious! I have to try it!
Wow this is just something completely out of the box. I never thought of adding orange juice to the Vietnamese spring rolls sauce even though I had made it so many times before. I must give this a try very soon.
I love this sauce! I have always made my sauce for summer rolls using almond butter and soy sauce instead of peanut butter and hoisin like most people, but never thought about adding orange juice. Thanks for the inspiration! I have tried it with tahini too – very good!
Hi Jaden, Thank you for your tutorial on spring rolls. The orange almond sauce is terrific and will help out the members of my family that fear fish sauce. I also love your tutorial on how to make curly green onion garnish! So simple and great! Loved your talk at BlogherFood. Thank you!
please if you have any recipe on how to use orange almond sauce, let me, i’ll like to try it on a different recipe.
You can also add a 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar, shake and make a really nice dressing for coleslaw. If you also add a little water to thin it out, it’s a salad dressing!
i tried it and the best part of it for me was the noodles, and the roasted sesame seeds, i guess i did a better job for the almond sauce, well i hope to get the combination right next time, thanks.
love this recipe!
Your recipe for Orange Almond Sauce for Vietnamese Spring Rolls seems really amazing, and i love the way make it easier to prepare with good explanations. And thanks for the tips on how to stack multiple layers, i’ll try that.
Those look wonderful. I love Vietnamese spring rolls. Can’t wait to give them a try.
How would you suggest making these with the avocado if I want to make it advance and saran wrap it? Won’t they avocados turn brown? Any suggestions are appreciated!! Thanks!
I like the Vietnamese spring rolls. The orange almond sauce is amazing!
Thanks for featuring this recipe Jaden, and for your lovely support of my book. I really appreciate. I am so glad you and your family enjoyed it. You’re the best! xxxx
Great One, I like Vietnamese Spring Rolls, especially the spring roll’s Skin
This looks amazing – your posts always make me so hungry!
These look fantastic. I’m horrible with rice wrappers, but I think I must try this!
Can’t wait to give these a try – but what else can I use instead of the raw almond butter?
Any nut butter!
The rolls look so yummy! And sauce sounds so interesting, really tempting 🙂
Thank you these just look like spring. Will be making them tomorrow-our 1st 80 degree day in 8 mos.
It looks wonderful. Thanks for sharing! I don’t eat fish, or fish sauce, but I’m determined to start eating them soon. In the meantime, I’ll stick with the fishless sauce, lol
Can’t wait to try this recipe! It will be a variation from our usual summer rolls: http://coupleconsult.wordpress.com/2014/04/15/into-the-kitchen-vietnamese-summer-rolls/
I would love to get your original recipe for the Nuoc Cham dipping sauce as well!
Any chance you would send me your original recipe with the fish sauce dipping sauce? Please?
Thanks!
I’m with your hubby and kids when it comes to fish sauce, and I would love the veggies and all the zing from citrus and vinegar, but rice wrappers? I never seen them for sale, but now that I see them in action, they made me laugh! Those spring rolls look like veggies in a condom, LOL! Sorry, Jaden; my bad. They look delicious! ;-D
This comment made me laugh so hard! lol