Roast Carrots with Nuoc Cham
I have to admit, I had no idea what Nuoc Cham is before I attempted this recipe. I’ve never had it, but thought the ingredients might make a delicious sauce.
I was not wrong.
Required Equipment:
Hand blender / Blender / Food Processor
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs Carrots, scrubbed / peeled (cut in half if some carrots are thick or vary significantly in size)
2 tbsp + 2 tbsp Oil
1 Shallot, thinly sliced
2 Thai chilis, sliced (if you don’t have this at hand, substitute with dried chili flakes)
1/2 inch piece of Ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
3 Garlic cloves
2 tbsp of Fish sauce
2 tbsp of Brown Sugar (or Coconut Palm Sugar even better!)
2 tbsp of Lime juice
1 tbsp of Mayonnaise
Optional:
Cilantro, garnish
What’s Next:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, drizzle 2 tbsp of oil and lightly coat the carrots in a foil lined roasting pan or Pyrex. Lightly season with salt. Roast for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned (this will depend on the size of your carrots)
Add shallots, chili, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, sugar and 2 tbsp of water in a small sauce pan. Cook with low-medium heat until gentle simmer, 8-10 minutes just until the shallots are softened. The sauce shouldn’t be thick. Remove from heat and let cool
Transfer to a blender or food processor or a deep bowl if you’re using a hand blender. Add mayonnaise and lime juice. Blend until smooth (don’t worry if you’ll still see tiny bits of shallots, it’d be hard to get this completely smooth). Drizzle in another 2 tbsp of oil, mix until you no longer see the separation of oil and sauce
Drizzle over carrots just before serving
Sauce can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill in fridge.