It all started with my mom telling me that she enjoyed eating roasted carrots. “I really like how you do it,” she said. Whenever she says that, she’s signaling that she wants me to repeat something. Only this time, she added that she’d bought a 5-pound bag of carrots on a very steep discount at the supermarket.
Mom is frugal and can’t pass up a good deal, even though she’s mostly cooking for herself these days, ever since my dad passed away. I roasted the carrots off for her with cumin and wrote up the recipe in an earlier e-newsletter dispatch. Planning for the future, in case my mom got more carrots, I pondered more ways to serve roasted carrots. They are very easy to prepare as a side dish. Plus, the holidays are coming up. So, how could I doll up roasted carrots?
The Cook You Want To Be
That’s when I spotted a creamy nuoc cham recipe in Andy Baraghani’s provocative debut cookbook, The Cook You Want To Be. Only in his early thirties, Baraghani has a well-established career in food as a professional cook, test kitchen staff person, YouTube sensation and smart food editor. He’s worked at Saveur, Tasting Table, and Bon Appetit. He’s creative yet restrained. He promised that his creamy nuoc cham would impress, and was fabulous with all kinds of roasted vegetables. I took the recipe for a spin and came up with this winning recipe for you to try! Here are my notes and tips.
Andy’s Creamy Nuoc Cham
In the main, Vietnamese nuoc cham dipping sauce is a punchy, tangy liquid more than a creamy sauce but there are outlier versions in the Mekong Delta that employ coconut milk. Baraghani’s features cashews, which grow in Vietnam. I don’t know how deeply he thought about the cultural connection, but I had good feelings upon reading his creamy nuoc cham recipe in The Cook You Want To Be. He’s visited Red Boat Fish Sauce on Phu Quoc island like I have so he had a certain sense of Vietnam.
Viet people make nuoc cham in many ways so I’m always open to new takes, whether they come from Viet people or not. Baraghani’s creamy nuoc cham turned out to be svelte in texture with a garlicky, spicy, umami edge. You could use less garlic if you like, but it needs that pungency once it’s served with other foods. The sauce can be used soon after it’s blended but I kept it for a couple of days and it was fine too. So, it’s a good one to keep around! (If you have to roast cashews, do it in the toaster oven at 325F for about 10 minutes, stirring the cashews now and then.)
Carrot Options
You often see roasted carrot recipes call for slender, skinny carrots and in an ideal world, those model thin rods roast up quickly to yield a beautiful plate. My health food store had a bunch of them for a sweet price. However, if you prefer or only have access to big carrots (bigger carrots actually have better flavor), cut them down to size. Halve or quarter the carrots so they are more or less uniform in length and thickness. That will ensure they’ll cook evenly and the result will be lovely.
Herbaceous Pairings
I don’t use herbs as a garnish, but rather a prime seasoning ingredient. For this recipe, I chose dill to go with these roasted carrots because the two plants are kin. (However, if you’re a gardener, you know that they shouldn’t be grown near one another because the cross-pollination may result in meh-tasting produce.) If dill isn’t around, use other soft-leaf herbs, such as cilantro, mint, basil, shiso (Japanese or Vietnamese tia to), or tarragon.
Roasted Carrots and Creamy Nuoc Cham Video Recap
Even though this is a straightforward recipe, you may have questions. I ponder a lot when I prep carrots for roasting, for example.
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Potential Recipe Tweaks
Roast multi-colored carrots for a varied, rainbow effect. Aside from how I've presented the roasted carrots here, offer them slightly chilled atop romaine lettuce dressed with salt, pepper, a tiny squeeze of lime juice and the creamy nuoc cham. Thinly sliced cabbage should work too.
The creamy nuoc cham may be served with other roasted vegetables (broccoli in the cool season, asparagus in the springtime!) or to dress a salad, Baraghani suggests. Maybe it’s good with Viet-style lettuce wraps?
This recipe is easily scalable for a crowd. The carrots may be roasted hours or days ahead to be served slightly chilled, at room temperature, or warm. Additionally, you could partly roast them and then finish them in the oven to brown before serving.
Print Recipe
5 from 7 votes
Roasted Carrots, Dill and Creamy Nuoc Cham
The Creamy Nuoc Cham recipe was sourced from Andy Baraghani’s The Cook You Want To Be (Lorena Jones Books, 2022). For vegan takes, see the Notes.
Course: Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine: Asian American, Vietnamese-ish
Keyword: carrots, nuoc cham
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Roasted Carrots
- 1 ⅔ pounds skinny, slender carrots, scrubbed and patted dry
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola or peanut
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- Kosher or fine sea salt
Creamy Nuoc Cham
- ½ cup roasted cashews salted or lightly salted
- ⅓ cup water
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 birds eye chiles, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
Herbal finish
- ½ cup chopped or hand-torn dill fronds
Instructions
To roast the carrots: Preheat the oven to 425F. Trim the ends from the carrots and cut them into 4 to 5-inch lengths. Separate out any sections that are more than ½ inch thick and halve them lengthwise. Put the carrots on a rimmed baking sheet pan and toss with the peanut oil and fish sauce. Roast the carrots for 25 to 30 minutes, turning midway, until tender with some browning.
Meanwhile, make the creamy nuoc cham: Put the cashews, water, lime juice, chiles, garlic, fish sauce, and sugar in a blender jar. Puree until smooth and then taste, seasoning with salt and sugar as needed. (Even though the sauce includes the salty fish sauce, it may need some added salt, especially if the cashews were unsalted.) Expect ¾ cup of creamy nuoc cham.
When the carrots are done, let them cool for at least 5 minutes. (The carrots may be served warm, at room temperature, or slightly chilled.) Transfer half of the carrots to a platter.
To assemble and serve: Drizzle about 3 tablespoons of the creamy nuoc cham on top, sprinkle with half of the dill. Add the remaining carrots and repeat with more sauce and the remaining dill. You’ll have extra sauce to serve on the side for diners to add more, as they like.
Notes
Store leftover creamy nuoc cham in a jar for up to 2 days. Use it with other roasted veggies, to dress a salad, or even for lettuce wraps.
If you do not have dill, see the main article for herbaceous substitution ideas.
For a vegan version, use vegan fish sauce. Or, try 1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce plus ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt instead of the fish sauce; the sauce will be slightly darker in color.
