Monday, March 23, 2009

Vietnamese Summer Rolls and Best Peanut Dipping Sauce



We love Vietnamese summer rolls, spring rolls or fresh rolls. We used to frequent one Vietnamese restaurant which served "Nuoc Cham" with the summer rolls and we loved it. And then we started to be more adventurous and tried out other new Vietnamese restaurants around town and discovered a new dipping sauce that was made of Peanut butter and Hoisin sauce. My girls totally loved this dipping sauce and would just lick it off from the spoon. And we started to like this too and would rather prefer this dipping sauce than "Nuoc Cham".

The version of the peanut dipping sauce here are thick and non-spicy. I think they made it non-spicy to suit the American taste buds. Also you can always add the Vietnamese chili sauce if you like it spicy. Because of this peanut sauce, Evy had two summer rolls in one setting for her afternoon snack. Frankly I was surprised because she never had one before and she didn't really like the skin texture of the summer roll. But she said she loved my peanut sauce and thus the summer rolls. My version of the peanut sauce was a hit and both my girls had lots of summer rolls and my hubby didn't touch the "Nuoc Cham" at all. Another surprise because he used to like this sauce with his summer rolls. I guess from now on, I only need to make the peanut hoisin dipping sauce.





Sweet Vinegar Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Cham)

  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup hot/warm water
  • 1/4 cup fish sauce
  • 1/4 cup white vinegar
  • 1/8 cup lime juice

Dissolved sugar in hot water and add in the rest, mixed well. Store any extra in the refrigerator.


2 cloves of garlic, minced

Chopped toasted peanut for garnish


In a bowl, add in some minced garlic, top with Nuoc Cham and garnish with chopped toasted peanuts to serve. You can add minced chili pepper if you like it spicy.

Vietnamese Peanut Hoisin Dipping Sauce

  • 1/2 cup water
  • 4 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter, I used Jif reduced fat
  • 4 Tbsp. Hoisin sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. sugar

Put all in a blender and puree until smooth. Store any leftover in the refrigerator.


Chopped toasted peanuts for garnish


In a sauce bowl, add in the blended peanut hoisin sauce and garnish the top with some chopped toasted peanuts. Seriously, this is spoon licking good as that's how Edda loved hers.

30 comments:

Finla said...

I love these roll, they are really yummy and delicous. Love the dipp too.

Big Boys Oven said...

this so refreshing, just pure deliciousm something I wouldn't mind trying to make!

Pearl said...

oh those vietnamese summer rolls look so light and yummy! do your girls enjoy those? goodness - i was a picky eater when i was little; i don't think i would've been able to appreciate those LOL

Anonymous said...

I love summer rolls with the peanut sauce also!! I usually add some Vietnamese Sriacha sauce to the peanut sauce also!

SIG said...

Wow, the sauce looks very good. I've never tried making Viet rolls. Must try. :)

Charmaine said...

Thanks for sharing this recipe. We love the peanut dipping sauce too!

Faye fly said...

a nice yummy food blog ! ^^ lovely!

Jackie said...

wow, u can even make Vietnamese food....bravo !

Beachlover said...

wow !! look like the one sell at restauarant!

Peony said...

that's easy...
thanks for the recipe.
think it will be good for steamboat? hahaha

Babe_KL said...

that's a nice variation to the sauce. thanks for the idea

@ GiGi House of Beauty said...

oh is the peanut dipping sauce really that good!? i will certainly try one day!! cos my boys oso crazy about peanut butter!

Little Corner of Mine said...

These rolls really refreshing right Happy Cook? Delicious with a good dipping sauce.

Haha BBOven, make lah!

Hahaha Pearl, yeah to my surprise! They never really enjoy it in the restaurant but they ate a lot when I made it at home, two days straight some more.

Hi Claire, me too. I added Sriracha sauce on my roll. :)

SIG, you should, so easy to make and delicious to eat!

You're welcome Charming. :)

Thanks Faye! :) Come back often ya!

Hehe Jackie, thanks.

Thanks Beachlover.

You're welcome Peony. Not sure about steamboat, maybe substitute the peanut butter with sesame paste?

You're welcome babe_kl.

Gigi, Evy had 4 summer rolls in a day, two for tea time and two at dinner and for two days straight, you tell me (until I finished all my rice wrapper). As for Edda, whenever she sees that sauce, she just want to wipe it clean. :D Even this little girl had 2 a day. You should give this sauce a try the next time you make the summer rolls. :)

Bits said...

I love this too and it is heaven with the dipping sauce!

tigerfish said...

Summer rolls? I thought it shd be Spring rolls....hee heeee...
it's Spring official mah.

Unknown said...

Peanut butter + hoisin sauce sounds bloody good! hehehe I know I can always get inspired here :)

Baking Fiend said...

Oh My.... I just had these rolls for lunch and they're so yummy!

Creative Classroom Core said...

I make these quite a lot in the summer, but they are not half as pretty as yours!
Thanks for sharing! Yum!

Dwiana P said...

Oh wow, it looks DELISH! I want some....:)

Kana said...

I have a hankering for some right now.

una donna dolce said...

I love Nim Chow! It's so good for you and so easy - a classic at my house!

therese said...

Hi, I stumbled upon your blog while looking for recipes. I just LOVE your blog. Keep up the recipes coming!

Cheers!~

Little Corner of Mine said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Little Corner of Mine said...

Thanks Therese, keep coming back for more ya! :)

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

Lovve anything Hoison. These are so much fun for kids to make. They love the see through rolls (and great way to add veggies to their snacks).

Unknown said...

hi back again, I made the fingers with the batter and it is a good one.I will keep and use this batter recipe for all things like this,it is simple,easy and commonly found ingredients, thank you.

Unknown said...

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Anonymous said...

This peanut sauce is spot on. Made it tonight. Definitely will eat tomorrow as well.

Unknown said...

The peanut dipping sauce tastes exactly like what we get at the takeaway shops. Although it has a very nice consistency, next time I would reduce the water just a bit as I like my sauce quite thick. It does stand up well with the full 1/2 cup though. Thanks for posting.

Anonymous said...

I've been coming back to this recipe for the past 6 - 7 years. Sometimes I pull back on the sugar and water, still taste great.