One of my favorite restaurants in Seattle, ba bar, makes the perfect vermicelli bowl recipe. called bun, Vietnamese cold noodle salads combine sweet, salty, savory, crunchy, and vinegary flavors into a really satiating and healthy-ish lunch. This is a copycat recipe of Ba Bar's vermicelli bowl recipe - as best i could reverse engineer it!
Since i'm doing a january whole30 reset, some of the traditional ingredients in bun ga nuong, like vermicelli noodles, are a no-go, but i've subbed in shirataki noodles and the result is DELICIOUS. shirataki noodles are a game change for anyone who wants to go low carb but is aching and pining for asian-y noodles.
Serious Eats notes, "Slick shirataki noodles are perfect for cold noodle salads, where their slippery texture helps keep each strand separate while simultaneously picking up plenty of flavor from a sauce."
enjoy this slightly paleo-ified version of a cold Vietnamese noodle salad!!!
Vietnamese Noodle Bowl (Bun Ga Nuong)
Ingredients
Salad
- 3-4 skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 tablespoon of fish sauce
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 2 shallots finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 14 oz shirataki noodles available at Asian grocery stores or on Amazon
- 4 cups romaine lettuce shredded
- 4 Persian cucumbers sliced
- ¼ cup fresh mint chopped
- ¼ cup unsalted roasted cashews chopped
- optional toppings: shredded pickled daikon and carrot fried shallot, chopped green onion
Salad dressing
- ½ cup water
- 1 lime
- 4 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 clove garlic chopped finely
- 1 tablespoon ginger chopped finely
- 1 tablespoon chopped red chili pepper
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- marinate the chicken breasts in the garlic, shallots, salt, pepper and the vegetable oil for 30 min-1 hr.
- transfer shirataki noodles to a colander or strainer. Rinse under cold running water for 30 seconds, then set over a bowl to drain while you make the salads.
- heat a skillet or grill pan until smoking; grill chicken thighs until done, and then chop into bite size pieces.
- in each bowl, divide the lettuce and cucumbers. Top with the shirataki. Arrange the chicken on top of the shirataki.
- Combine the ingredients for the chili vinaigrette and mix together thoroughly. Pour three to four tablespoons of the chili vinaigrette on each salad. Sprinkle with fresh mint and cashews and serve.
Nutrition
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