We're supposed to go for a lunch at my favourite Vietnamese restaurant but to the last minute, I decided to just head to Chinatown and buy my own stuff. Kind of see what's out there and what fresh exotic ingredient will lure me and inspire me to make something. This weekend, I found some fresh Thai basil, cilantro with roots still attached to them (great for making fresh curries). As we were supposed to go for Vietnamese food, I was craving it. Typically I would go for the spring rolls which are much lighter than the Filipino version and then I would normally order a bowl of pho noodle soup. It was a nice Spring day, the weather was quite nice and I didn't feel like eating something heavy like my usual favourite. It was a perfect day for something light and fresh so I thought I'd make the noodle salad instead. I went home with my stash, grabbed some cookbooks for some ideas and here's what I came up with.
This is very easy to put together, but it requires a little bit of organization and planning because it has to be done in batches. This is great both as warm or cold salad. I'm sure this can also be used as filling for spring rolls if you have the patience to wrap it in those delicate fresh spring roll wrappers that they use in Vietnamese restaurants.
Dressing (Nouc Cham)
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
3 Thai birds eye chillies, roughly chopped (remove seeds & white pith if you don't like it hot)
2 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
juice & zest of 1 lime
1 stalk lemon grass, soft centre only, roughly chopped
3 tbsp water
Start with the dressing as this is also the foundation for the marinade. In a food processor or using a mortar and pestle, add garlic, chilies and lemon grass, pound or pulse lightly to form a paste. Add fish sauce, sugar, lime juice and lime zest then water. Stir or pulse to blend all the ingredients and dissolve the sugar. Adjust seasoning according to taste (you might want more sugar or more lime juice, it's really up to you).
Prawns
16 prawns, peeled and deveined
3 tbsp of nouc cham (recipe on top)
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of five spice powder
1 tsp of chili oil
Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl then marinate the prawns for 10 minutes or so while you're preparing the vegetables and the noodles. I just pan-fried my prawns they take only a couple of minutes to cook on each side, you can brobably try broiling or grilling them and I'm sure they will be just as good. Set-aside.
Salad Ingredients
3 eggs, beaten, seasoned w/ salt and pepper, fried and sliced
225g dried rice vermicelli noodles
6 lettuce leaves, shredded
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
3 medium carrots, peeled and julienned
handful of Thai basil leaves, roughly chopped or left whole
handful of cilantro leaves, roughly chopped or left whole
Arrange the egg slices, fresh vegetables and herbs in a big platter or salad bowl. I didn't have them but if you can find them other great herbs to add would be mint and chives, just chop them or left them whole like the Thai basil and cilantro.
Cook the noodles by dropping it in boiling salted water. Drain, rinse to stop them from sticking together, drain it again and place in the middle of the vegetable and herb platter.
Toss everything and drizzle with nouc cham (dressing). Serve topped with prawns and season with freshly cracked pepper.
Serves 4 - 6
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