It’s amazing what you can come up with when you clean out your fridge. Vermicelli Noodle Salad with Nuoc Cham dressing is what ended up happening for us tonight with our fridge cleanout.
I really hate wasting food. I’m always trying to be creative with whatever ingredients we have leftover near the end of the week before I hit the grocery store again. I also just get really sick of always running to the grocery store, so in protest, I am somewhat determined at times to make do with what we have left. It is also a satisfying feeling to unleash your creativity with limited ingredients.
This was my improvised lunch today. I had a bunch of veggies left to use up and some vermicelli noodles in the pantry and the ingredients to make a Nuoc Cham dressing, which is a Vietnamese table sauce. The sauce is a bit pungent so if you are new to fish sauce, and haven’t quite acquired a taste for it yet you might want to tone down on the fish sauce a little, but feel free to improvise to your taste.
This would be better (I think) with a protein added in, but I simply didn’t bother for a quick lunch. But if you have the time, some chicken, shrimp, beef, tofu or pork, would all be a nice addition here.
Also – two required condiments to add to this dish, in my opinion, are Hoisin Sauce and Sriracha Sauce (they help balance out the flavors well).
You can really use whatever veggies you like and have in your fridge, but I think you for sure at least need the cucumbers and carrots, then feel free to add away whatever else you like.
NUOC CHAM DRESSING (Vietnamese Table Sauce)
This dressing should keep well in the fridge for 3 or 4 days
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 heaping tablespoon of runny honey
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 small chile, minced (bird chile or 1/2 a serrano pepper would work)
- fine shreds of carrot (optional)
FOR YOUR SALAD
- 8 oz Vermicelli Noodles (rehydrate in some hot boiling water for about 5 minutes or so until tender then rinse under cold water and toss in a little oil so they don’t stick (I like sesame oil for this type of dish)
- 2 Carrots ( I like to coarsely grate for this)
- a handful Snow peas, julienned
- 1 cucumber chopped fine
- Radish, chopped fine
- 1 tomato
- 1/2 red pepper, julienned
- Fresh herbs (mint, cilantro, basil or a mixture of the three
- Toasted peanuts, chopped fine (about a handful or so)
- Hoisin Sauce and Sriracha Hot Sauce (add to taste in each individual serving)
Now feel free to completely change up the salad ingredients – you can really add in anything you like. I truly just added whatever I had left in my fridge. Some shredded lettuce, bean sprouts, anything really would be alright here. If you are trying to limit carbs, you can also up the veggie content and reduce the noodles to your personal preference.
To put it together dress each individual serving with a little of the dressing to taste and Sriracha and Hoisin drizzled over to taste. Leftover dressing can be stored in the fridge.
I hope you enjoy it – now I better go clean up my kitchen!
If you like this dish you should try: Pork Meatball Bowls with Sweet Chili Dressing
