The finished little Nems
This is a raw version of the recipe below,well almost the same. These are a delicious and light snack suitable at any time of the day. In order to create these tasty little nems i researched many recipes on line to gather in my head the very essence of what i remember a Nem should taste like. Although i have never been to Vietnam i have eaten in a number of fabulous little Cantonese and Vietnamese restaurants in and around Paris. As i remember the delicate and small Nems were served with lettuce leaves, fresh mint leaves and a tangy orange flavored dipping sauce. I have also eaten them whilst in Bristol. A girlfriend of a friend of mine who, as luck would have it was Cantonese, bought us a selection of nems along for our lunch as part of a picnic. Delicious and different, as they were flavoured using miso, soy and honey. As these Nems are made using Marsh Samphire & sea lettuce both of which are naturally salty i decided on using a Barley Miso. this i mixed with a ration of wo to one with Shoyu/tamari, fish sauce, honey and a little rice wine. thus creating a light sweetness but good strength of savory miso. It works incredibly well. Here is the recipe along with photo shots of assembly.
a piece of sea lettuce is laid on top of a rice paper
Be sure to soak the circular rice papers in warm water first. This will make them easier to handle and roll up.
50g of filling spooned along length of lettuce
I have mentioned 50g of filing but actually 60-70g is more like the true representation here. I did weigh each portion at 50g but added more.
Drizzle (using a pastry brush) an amount of the dipping sauce prior to putting on the next piece of sea lettuce
cover the filling with another piece of sea lettuce
This done it is now time to roll the whole ensemble up like a cigar, so brace yourself and get your nibble pinkies ready
The finished product all barr the trimming of the ends.
Now rolled up and looking cigar shaped you will notice that it is quite wet and a little slippery. This is normal. Before cutting into sections ready fofr serving, lay on a plastic tray and refridgerate for about an hour un-covered. This will assist the drying out process. Allowing easier handling.
This is a small picture of one of my nems on a plate, lightly brushed with the dipping sauce