Vietnamese Summer Rolls

400g flank steak

The Marinade

• 2 garlic cloves
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 3 tbsp lemongrass
• 2 bird’s eye chillies
• 1 tsp palm sugar

The filling

• 80 g cooked rice vermicelli noodles
• 1 bunch mint
• 10 lettuce leaves
• 1 red pepper, ½ cucumber & 1 medium carrot, chopped finely into match sticks
• 1 pack rice pancake pastries
• Carrot and daikon pickles

Nuoc Cham Dipping Sauce

• 1 tbsp Fish Sauce
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 2 tbsp Water
• 2 cloves Garlic crushed
• Lime Juice (one or two limes)
• 1 birds eye chilli

Mix all ‘the marinade’ ingredients together. Slice the beef into 4 cm strips. Mix the beef with the marinade and massage the marinade well into the meat. Set aside to marinate for at least 15 minutes or if time permits, overnight.

The Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Cham)

To make your nuoc cham dipping sauce start with the ratio of 1 Fish Sauce: 1 sugar : 2 water e.g.1 tbsp fish sauce: 1 tbsp sugar: 2 tbsp water.  Finely chop or crush your garlic and add to sauce. Squeeze the juice of your lime(s) and add to sauce to desired taste- start little and build up flavour. For a little extra kick, deseed your chilli and chop finely and add to the mix Adjust flavours where necessary and enjoy!

In a wok over a high heat sear the beef and cook  for two minutes on each side. 

The summer rolls

Dip 1 summer roll pastry into a tub of cold water for 3 seconds. Lay the pastry down on the worktop.

Place place the filling ingredients in the middle of the pastry, make sure not to overfill the roll. 

Once the pastry starts to soften, start the folding process. Fold the bottom centre into the middle and stick. Holding fingertips over the ‘roll’ and use thumbs to roll pastry tightly to enclose the filling.

Keep rolling until you reach the middle of the pastry, fold in both sides tightly and stick. Now continue rolling until pastries are fully closed and your summer roll has been made

Serve alongside your nuoc cham dipping sauce