Rice Noodles and Stuff Bowl a la some Vietnamese restaurants
I’ve been to: A Recipe
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| one day I'll get good at food photography maybe |
For 4 people
You Will Need: 4 Bowls
You Will Also Need:
-
rice noodles for 4 people
-
coarsely chopped peanuts
-
1 big tomato, cut in 8 wedges
-
lettuce, shredded
-
fresh mint
For the stir-fried veggies:
-
6 carrots chopped VERY THIN or grated
-
1 or 2 red peppers, cut into strips
-
3 onions sliced
-
4 cloves of garlic minced
-
thumb sized piece of ginger minced
-
1 hot pepper (optional)
-
oil for frying
-
soy sauce
For the beef:
-
beef (tender, cut into small strips)
Marinated in:
-
soy sauce
-
apple cider vinegar
-
black pepper
-
honey
And:
-
something crunchy and spring-rolls-esque. I deep
fried okra the first time I made this, and the second time I totally cheated
and bought an order of spring rolls from a restaurant and chopped them up. You
can probably use corn chips, broken up pappadams, or your imagination.
OTHER THINGS: this meal is really easy to add lots of fun
extra stuff too. Suggestions:
-
any pickled veggies, especially jalapeno peppers
or carrots
-
bean sprouts
-
fresh herbs
-
egg or spring rolls
-
dumplings (easy addition if you have them frozen
or pre-made)
What you do:
I think in real Vietnamese restaurants this is often made
with pickled veggies but this is MY version so we’re doing it MY WAY. So there.
Fry onions, carrots, garlic, and ginger, with oil and soysauce, on low heat for
a long time, so that the carrots get nice and soft—add water if you need to so
they don’t stick.
(If you are doing
okra, cut it into inch pieces and put it in a pan with a lot of oil, and leave
it there on medium high heat for about 20 or 30 minutes or until it is crunchy
and brown, then pat off grease with paper towel and salt it.)
While the stuff is frying, marinate your beef. I used a lot of honey and pepper, because that is
delicious. The soy sauce and cider vinegar are mostly for liquidification of
the marinade. You can also add crushed ginger and garlic to it if you are not
lazy like I was.
When your veggies are almost cooked, throw the beef on a hot
pan with a teensy bit of oil—sear it on both sides, make it tender, you know
what I’m talking about. I am not an expert beef-cooker but this was
surprisingly (to me) not difficult.
Cook the rice noodles.
Now make your bowls. In each bowl, layer in this order: rice
noodles, lettuce, fried veggies, beef. Top with lots of chopped peanuts, mint, tomato,
and whatever else you’re adding. EVERYONE WILL BE SO IMPRESSED. Also, this
seems complex but really there isn't much cooking, so it’s an easy thing to
throw together for yourself, for lunch or whatever, especially if you have
pre-cooked any of the ingredients.
Mangez!
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