vietnamese rice vermicelli salad
A Vietnamese rice vermicelli salad would have to be a candidate for one of my favourite dishes of all time. My desert island dish. Well, I lie. I probably have 10 desert island dishes. 🙂
It has so much going for it. It is easy to make, it is fresh and vibrant, it is healthy AND it tastes spectacularly good.
It is just a bowl of vermicelli noodles topped with a variety of raw or lightly blanched veggies, some protein and a sweet, salty and spicy dressing.
The dish varies every time I make it. It really depends what is in the fridge. The only constants are the vermicelli, lettuce and carrot. And the dressing of course.
Today’s bowl contained rice vermicelli, lettuce, carrot, coriander, snow peas, satay flavoured tofu, sliced fresh chillies, spring onions and the chilli, garlic and “fish sauce” dressing.
Today I came home from a walk, hungry and ready to eat so I used some already flavoured tofu. In the past I’ve used crispy fried tempeh or some seitan mock chicken.
Here is the recipe for the dressing. You will need about 1/3 cup per bowl.
- ¼ cup vegan fish sauce
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- 2 tbsp sugar
- ½ cup water
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 small hot red chilli, finely chopped with the seeds removed (or less if you're scared)
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- Heat the vegan fish sauce, vinegar, water and sugar in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves completely. Don't let it come to the boil.
- Allow to cool, then mix in the garlic, chilli and lime juice;
Such a great dish, particularly for the upcoming summery days!