Vietnamese Noodle Salad

I suppose I've said this before, but allow me to reiterate. Asian cuisine is not my forte! I am however, decidedly determined to change this. I tested out this noodle salad recipe on two of my favourite guinea pigs and both gave it a big thumbs up. I'm not a fan of cucumber and even I thought it was pretty amazing! The lemongrass dressing was delicious and zingy, and the best part of all was how super easy it was to make.

Salad:

150g rice vermicelli noodles
1 small handful mint leaves, roughly torn
1 small handful coriander leaves, roughly torn
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 small unripe (green) mango, peeled and chopped
1/2 lebanese cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 cup crushed peanuts

Dressing:

2 limes, juice and grated zest
2 tbsp grated palm sugar
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 stem lemongrass (white part only), finely chopped
1 red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded

Place the noodles in a heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and allow to soak until tender. Drain, rinse under cold water and transfer to a serving bowl.

Next add in the cucumber, mint, coriander, onion, mango and half the peanuts and toss well to combine.

Whisk the dressing ingredients together and pour over the salad, tossing to combine. Top with the remaining peanuts and some extra coriander and mint.

Serves 4.

Asian Style Chicken Noodle Soup

Bearing in mind that Asian cookery is not my area of expertise, I have to say I was pretty happy with the way this soup turned out! Very fresh and light with lots of wonderful flavours going on. And best of all it's incredibly healthy! I make this soup at least once a week now.



1L salt reduced chicken stock
1 cup water
2 tbsp soy sauce3 cloves garlic, roughly sliced
2 inch piece ginger, roughly sliced
1 stalk lemongrass, cut into 1 inch pieces
Cracked black pepper1 skinless chicken breast (approx 200g)
1 bunch choy sum, cut into 2-3 inch lengths
1 handful snowpeas, halved
150g udon noodles
1 long red chilli, finely sliced for garnish

Pour the stock, water and soy sauce into a saucepan and add the garlic, ginger and lemongrass pieces. Season with pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, add the chicken breast and allow poach gently for 20 minutes, or until the breast is cooked through.

Meanwhile, place the noodles in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside until noodles are tender and ready for use.

Once the chicken is cooked through, remove from the stock, allow to cool slightly then shred. Strain the stock to remove the garlic, ginger and lemongrass pieces.

To assemble the soup pile noodles in a large bowl, top with the fresh choy sum, snow peas and shredded chicken, then ladle over the hot stock. Garnish with fresh chilli and coriander.

Serves 2.