Quick and Fresh: Vietnamese Noodle Bowls

This is a go-to quick dinner because it doesn’t really require too much actual cooking. I also get to use my second favorite kitchen gadget, the nut mill, for chopping up the peanuts. [Chime-O-Matic rice cooker, you will always be my #1]. It’s light, refreshing and good for kids because they can pick and choose to customize their own bowl. You can also use rice noodle wrappers to make a little package instead, which is what I usually do with the leftovers. A great lunch for the next day! (The rice noodle wrappers — bahn trang, the ones you use for goi cuon–  are circular, and come dry in various sizes. You just submerge the wrapper in hot water for a few seconds until it’s soft and pliable. Fill and wrap like a burrito.)

You can include any combination of things you like, including grilled meat, seafood —  or just keep it vegetarian. Here are some of the basics we usually use:

• Rice stick noodles boiled for ~2 minutes (until tender), then drained
• Chopped peanuts
• Chopped mint leaves and cilantro
• Sliced carrots
• Sliced cucumber (I like English Cucumbers because they’re crisper)
• Shredded lettuce
• Bean sprouts
• Sliced chiles (this one’s for you, Simran)
• Squeeze of lime juice
• Your favorite meat or seafood: Grilled, broiled or pan fried

I often use thin slices of marinated pork, broiled until carmelized using some approximation of this marinade.

• 2 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 minced shallot
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 Tbs fish sauce
• 1 Tbl soy sauce
• 2 Tbs brown sugar
• 1 Tbs vegetable oil
• 1 stalk of lemongrass (bruise it a bit and slice into large pieces you can easily remove)
• Ground black pepper to taste

The only other thing you need is a basic Nuoc Cham dipping sauce and whatever hot sauces or other condiments you like. Here’s a Nuoc Cham recipe I like from Viet World Kitchen. Here a spicy peanut dipping sauce from Sunday Nite Dinner that would be good as well.