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Ah, summer. Sun. Sea. Sippin' on iced drinks. And, of course, salad! Nobody wants to slave over a hot stove for hours on end when it's already tropical. But just a salad isn't all that filling, either. Solution: add noodles! But claggy pasta salads with soggy vegetables and split mayo dressing are...well, they're gross. Presenting therefore, the solution to all these problems: Rice noodle salad with shrimp & coconut-lime dressing.  I found this recipe a couple of years ago on the Bon Appetit website, and I've been making it every summer since. It's light, it's refreshing, and the dressing is so good you could drink it straight if you wanted. Seriously. It's probably the fish sauce - fish sauce makes everything better. Now, I'm pretty new to this whole ICSA thing - I've done a few, but most of time I usually just take pictures of the end result. Likewise, I started cooking and sort of forgot to take most pictures along the way - so this writeup is going to be a little light on the pictures. Apologies in advance.  We start with our ingredients, of course. Lime, onion, coconut milk, fish sauce (along with sugar and oil) for the dressing. And for the salad: cucumber, carrot, cooked 'n peeled shrimp, some greens, parsley, rice noodles. It's not a lot, and this is not a complicated recipe, but it'll come together perfectly. Starting with the dressing - grate the onion, juice a lime and a half, add in double the amount of coconut milk, a (generous) splash of fish sauce, a tablespoon of brown sugar, and whisk it all together. Drizzle in about a quarter cup of oil to bring it all together. I only had dark brown sugar, so mine turned out a bit more beige, but it won't really stand out against the rice noodles that much, anyway.  Put that aside, then start on the vegetables. Julienne your cucumber (and forget to take a picture) and then the carrot. You could also do slices or half moons, I suppose, but the julienne works better with the noodles. Tear or roughly chop your greens, just to sort of break it up a bit, then chop the parsley.  Boil your noodles, then chill them to stop the cooking. You'll want a bite to them, not mush. Once your noodles are cool, toss everything together - with some effort, as the noodles will kinda stick together. Add in the dressing and toss it again, making sure everything's coated.  Cover it and chill it in the fridge for like half an hour, allowing the flavor of the dressing to get into everything. Pour yourself a drink in the meantime, maybe clean up a bit. Then, of course, plate up and eat it while enjoying the summer sun. The beauty of this salad is that as long as you have the dressing, everything else you can substitute as you like. Red bell pepper, bean sprouts, more herbs - as long as they're sturdy vegetables that can hold a bite. if you want some more crunch, you can add peanuts, cashews, or fried shallots when you plate up. But the dressing really is the star. Creamy thanks to the coconut milk, zingy from the lime, and the umami from the fish sauce are a perfect combination. And a chilled noodle salad really is a lovely summer meal, when you just want to bask in the warmth like the lizard person you are. Give it a shot! If you make it for an ICSA, don't forget to take more pictures.
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Aug 7, 2022 18:32
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| # ? Apr 29, 2024 16:12 |
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Down with pasta salads. This sounds super fresh and tasty!
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Aug 14, 2022 15:19
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Looks fresh AF. I need more salad in my life.
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Aug 15, 2022 18:22
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