My Indo version of a Saigon salad

I borrowed the idea for this cold noodle salad from a vegetarian place I tried recently.  When I presented this meal to my kids they said, why have you never made this before? as if it was a no-brainer. My answer was that, well, I'm not Vietnamese. And whenever I've had something like this in a Vietnamese restaurant the dressing is made with fish sauce, which is not my favourite. But to combine rice vermicelli with a Japanese sesame vinaigrette, genius.


This is not really a recipe, more of an outline for ideas.  My youngest made the mistake of having his lunch version microwaved and said it was still okay warm. It's a cold school lunch option that doesn't involve bread - how great is that? And an easy summer dinner too.


Summer Saigon salad (a guide)

cooked rice vermicelli, room temperature, sprinkled with soy sauce
cucumber, thinly julienned
carrot, thinly julienned
red pepper, thinly sliced
coriander, chopped
greens chopped - I used arugula but spinach, watercress, other greens would work too
lime
bbq chicken, sliced or other protein. I marinated chicken breast in satay bumbu and soy here
fried tofu or tempeh

optional toppings
chopped peanuts (well, can't send that to school so we'd keep those on the side)
roasted sesame seeds or something similar that is crunchy
bean sprouts
green onion, chopped fine
fried onions

Dressing:

2 T Wafu sauce (or 1 tsp. tahini sauce if you don't have Wafu)
2 T salad oil (I used rice bran oil)
2 T rice vinegar
1 T soy sauce.
1 clove garlic chopped fine

*update: tried again with a more Indo focus so added krupuk, peanuts and put some pecel bumbu in the vinaigrette. That works well! Next time, a dollop of sambal too. This version had spinach, arugula and green onions and no chicken or red pepper.  Whatever is in the fridge!