Smoked Salmon and Strawberry Summer Rolls: Try This Unique Recipe

The inspiration behind this smoked salmon and strawberry summer roll recipe is a restaurant I visited while travelling in San Francisco. You see, I have knack for finding a restaurant I like and then it instantly closes. It happens all of the time and it has been happening for a while. This restaurant in Fisherman’s Wharf is no exception. It closed before I was able to return or before I could even recommend it to a friend who was travelling to San Francisco a few weeks later. Bummer.

However, at this restaurant, I was lucky enough to stumble upon and try a unique and delicious appetizer, the smoked salmon and strawberry summer rolls. It sounds odd, but it was incredibly delicious and I knew I had to try to recreate it. And luckily enough, during my trip in Vietnam, I learned the trick to rolling the perfect summer roll.

The first trick to the smoked salmon and strawberry summer rolls is, just like tacos, fajitas, and burritos, don’t over fill it! The second trick is moisture. Rice paper is sticky. It sticks to itself. It sticks to plates, it sticks to other summer rolls. However, if you place a wet towel on your work area, like magic, it doesn’t stick and it gives you more flexibility to work with and roll the perfect summer roll.

Makes about 6 summer rolls. This makes a beautiful appetizer, cutting these summer rolls in half or sections.

Ingredients:

6 ounces of smoked salmon, cut into 6 pieces

About 12 strawberries, sliced thinly

6 rice paper wrappers

12 basil leaves

6 ounces glass noodles (these are thin rice noodles generally found in the Asian section of supermarkets)

For the Nuoc Cham dipping sauce:

1 clove of garlic minced

1 Thai red chili minced

Juice of 1 lime

2 tablespoons of fish sauce

1 tablespoon of water

1 scallion, chopped

Instructions:

1. To begin, soak the glass noodles in hot water for about 3 minutes or until softened. Drain and set aside.
2. Prepare all of your ingredients and work space with a bowl of hot water and a hot towel over you cutting board or plate.
3. Prepare the Nuoc cham sauce by adding all of the ingredients together and stirring to combine.
4. Soak the rice paper is the hot water for about 30 seconds, until it is just soft. Lay it over the hot towel, and arrange a thin line of strawberries, 2 basil leaves, smoked salmon, and 1 ounce of glass noodles. Roll the rice wrapper as you would a burrito and set aside.
5. Continue this process with the rest of the ingredients and serve immediately with nuoc cham sauce.

If you enjoy this recipe, be sure to try my other Vietnamese inspired recipes like Pho or Bun Chay!