Herb Inspirations: Cold Noodle Salad

I told Kevin I’d write an “herb inspiration” about arroz con pollo. Then came a New York City heatwave and I said no way in hell/July am I browning chicken and stirring broth one spoonful at a time into steaming rice over the stove in my sweaty box of an apartment.

So I’m going in a more summery direction: Modified bún (Vietnamese noodle salad)!

Here’s what makes it a great summer dish:

• Mint, basil and cilantro (cooling)
• Cucumber (further cooling)
• Lime (refreshing)
• Cold noodles you need only to soak in hot water, cutting down stove time

I came across the recipe on The Kitchn earlier this month and fell in love the first time I made it. The herbs complement one another delightfully, and the dish is filling but never heavy.

The only bummer was how many stupid plastic bags of green things I had to buy. But then, lucky me, that very week my professor gave me a beautiful basil plant! It’s a pretty bodacious specimen, and it’s even survived its transfer to a bigger pot. Look at it go:

Those leaves aren't yellow; they're aglow with nutritious sunlight!

I’m thinking it’s going to do better than my little tarragon plant, which is still alive but has had a long year. Winter on a windowsill did not do it good. But I’m taking my horticultural responsibilities pretty seriously and am determined to keep these alive, even if it means buying a grow-lamp and running up the electricity bill.

Enough about me; here’s the recipe, as I’ve adapted it from The Kitchn (my changes in italics):

Vietnamese-Style Salad (2 servings [my boyfriend and I are hungry, hungry hippos; other people might like less food])

The Stuff
4 oz. rice sticks (I use about 2/3 of the 6.75-oz. bag by Dynasty) + trace of sesame oil
1 cup bean sprouts
1 cucumber, cut into match sticks
1 carrot, cut into match sticks
(how big is a carrot? how big is a cucumber? just try to get even amounts of the two)
lettuce (I forgot to use lettuce the second time I made this and have since omitted it; I like it better without!)

Sauce
2 T lime juice
2 T fish sauce (without this the recipe could be vegan, but after trying it with just soy sauce per The Kitchn, I agree with all the comments that, oh no no no, this dish needs fish sauce)
2 T sugar + 2 T water
1 t grated ginger (maybe this is totally inauthentic, but it tastes awesome)
2 t Sriracha (recipe calls for just garlic, but this provides garlic and chili, which makes it just the right kind of spicy for me)

Garnish
1 heaping T of packed basil leaves (I snipped 15 from my plant, please forgive!)
1 heaping T of packed mint leaves (in the stupid, overpriced plastic box from the store)
1 heaping T of packed cilantro (trying to preserve the rest of my store-bought bunch upright in a glass of water with a bag over the top, will let you know how it goes)
1/4 C peanuts, crushed

Step 1: Boil enough water (I did this in my small tea kettle) to cover the rice sticks. Let sit in a covered pot for 10 minutes.
Step 2: Chop the carrot and cucumber. Rinse and drain the bean sprouts.
Step 3: Chop the garnishes.
At my chopping pace, 10 minutes has passed, so onto
Step 4: Drain the noodles and put a few drops of sesame oil on them while they cool. You can stick them in the fridge for later, too. (Unlike “pasta,” rice sticks don’t seem to clump, so you could do this well ahead of time if you wanted to, I think.)
Step 5: In a small bowl, mix the sugar and water to make a simple syrup (I microwave for 15 seconds to get the dissolving on).
Step 6: Add lime juice and fish sauce to simple syrup. Stir.
Step 7: Add grated ginger, and stir in the Sriracha.
Step 8: Divide noodles between two plates or big bowls. Spread carrots, cucumber and bean sprouts over each. Pour the sauce over everything. Add the garnishes.

NB: This dish usually takes a protein. The original recipe suggested frying tofu, which I’ve done, and I can imagine this would be really great with shrimp–but for now I’m going really simple/cheap style, and letting the herbs star in this show.

HERB INSPIRATION #2: Make this dish, eat under my new ceiling fan (thanks, landlord!). And keep my basil plant alive.