Spring Should Be Rollin In

Photograph by Kaitlyn McQuaid

Due to the anticipation of spring here in Chicago a few friends and I decided to throw a spring roll party! As you can see most of your spring roll items are easy to find. Of course you are able to change it up as you would like. Here my friends and I made a beautiful array of fried tofu, basil, cilantro, lettuce, mushrooms, carrots, cucumbers, jalapeños, scallions and peanuts. We included three sauces. I would recommend more, but I am a condiment whore. So we have peanut dipping sauce, soy sauce and ginger, a Vietnamese fish sauce a.k.a. Nuoc Mam Cham. The following are the dipping sauce recipes:

Peanut Dipping Sauce ( so I had about 10 people and we ate all of it...maybe make more!)

4 Tablespoons creamy peanut butter

1 Teaspoon of chili paste

4 Tablespoons of hoisin sauce

2 Tablespoons of ketchup

Combine these ingredients with 1/2 cup of water and stir until well blended!

In a small pan cook two to three cloves of minced clove of garlic with 4 Tablespoons of vegetable or peanut oil and chili flakes. Add this to the peanut mixture and blend well! It should be rather thick! Red font because it is the best!

Soy Sauce And Ginger

1 part soy sauce to 3 parts rice wine vinegar

Ginger grated ( as much as desired)

sugar

scallions slice fine

Nuoc Mam Cham (Vietnamese Fish Sauce Dipping Sauce) It is Amazing!

2 Tablespoons sugar

4 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons fish sauce

1 Teaspoon chili oil

Juice of 1/2 large lime

3 finely sliced Thai chilies (red or green)*extremely spicy and wash your hands after touching

Mix all together and taste.... sugar add sweetness, the vinegar adds the unifying quality, chili oil and chilies add spice, lime cuts the fish-ness and mellows the flavors out together. Fish sauces adds balance and character.

* recommend adding the Nuoc Mam Cham to the inside of the roll and dipping the roll in the others.... but don't limit your self there are too many possibilities!