Vietnamese Grilled Shrimp Vermicelli Noodle Bowl

Simple and quick to throw together, this Vietnamese grilled shrimp vermicelli noodle bowl is great for those hot and muggy days when you want a light and refreshing meal without slaving over the stove.no

Sunny warm weather sometimes mean hot and muggy days and on days like that, I lose my appetite for big heavy meals. On top of that, slaving over a stove is usually the last thing on my mind, that’s for sure. Vermicelli bowl are awesome for days like that. It’s cool, refreshing, light and you can switch up your meats and even go full veggies or even add fruit.

 

The best part is if you are using the traditional thin vermicelli you don’t even need to dirty up a pot to make the noodles. I like just soak them in a bowl with boiling water via kettle (or tap if you’re lazy like me) and steam it! Just make sure that the water is REALLY hot if you choose to use tap water. Shrimp literally takes about 5 minutes on the grill (or stove) and just like that – food is ready!

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS

For this Grilled Shrimp Vermicelli Bowl, most ingredients can be found at your local grocery store. I added my Quick Pickled Daikon Radishes to my vermicelli bowl for a bit more flavour but it is completely optional.

If you have  hard time finding the vermicelli noodles, they can usually be found at a local grocery store or specialty grocery store.

 

For the lettuce, I like to use the leafy green lettuce over the iceberg lettuce because it has more flavour and more nutrients and it makes for a less watery vermicelli bowl.

 

 

For the grilled shrimp portion of the recipe, most of the ingredients can be found at the local grocery store. The toasted rice powder might be difficult to find but usually is available at an Asian grocery store. You can also purchase this online here.
If you are adventurous you can actually make the powder at home! 🙂 Just toast up some glutinous rice until they are golden brown on a frying pan and grind it up! It’s really easy to do and a lot cheaper. I go through the process in bit more detail in my Lemongrass Meatballs (Larb Style) – 3 Ways.

 

 

 

 

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

How to cook vermicelli without boiling it

I like to soak them in boiling hot water in a bowl for a few minutes (covered with a plate), and then drain the water and steam it with the residual heat by covering it with a towel or plate!

 

The results are a springy (read: not mushy) vermicelli made at just the right consistency. In short, you soak the vermicelli in a bowl of REALLY hot water for the time it says on the packaging and then strain it and cover it with a cloth to let it steam in it’s own heat (rinsing the noodles under cold water is not required). For the full instructions I have a “How to Cook Vermicelli Without Boiling” post that goes into details about how to do this. Keep in mind this method will only work with the very thin vermicelli noodles.

 

Vermicelli Bowl

1. For the vermicelli bowl, cut the carrots, cucumbers, pickled daikon into slivers and put it in a bowl with bean sprouts and vermicelli noodles. (Note: I like to remove the cucumber seeds and snack on them with the pups while I cutting up the cucumbers, this is optional but I find removing the seeds makes for a better texture in noodle bowls)
2. Finely chop the green leaf lettuce and add that into the vermicelli bowl as well.
3. Finely chop the green onions, and cut the limes up into wedges and set aside with the basil as a topping after the bowl has been assembled.

Sauces

For the sauce/dressing I usually go with the traditional Nuoc Cham (a light lime fish sauce dressing that is slightly sweet). However, I also came up with a nutty version as well that resembles a half Nuoc Cham half Peanut Sauce dressing that is more flavourful and is something different to switch things up! Both dressings are good, depends on your mood.

Nuoc Cham Dressing

1. In a bowl, add hot water and dissolve the sugar.
2. Once the sugar has dissolved add in the fish sauce, lime juice, rice vinegar, garlic and chilli (optional)

Nutty Frankenstein Nuoc Cham

1. In a small bowl combine 1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce and 1 tablespoon of chinese sesame paste and mix until combined. (If you can’t find chinese sesame paste, you can substitute it with peanut butter with 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. Do not substitute sesame paste 1:1 with Tahini as that is a completely different flavour)
2. Slowly add in the Nuoc Cham 1 tablespoon at a time to the thick paste until it is smooth and well incorporated. It should look like a runny peanut sauce.
3. Voila! Something different.

Grilled Shrimp

 

1. In a small bowl marinate the shrimp for 15 minutes with lime juice, sugar, soy, ginger, toasted rice powder and garlic (cut the ginger and garlic into sizes big enough to easily remove, since we don’t want to grill the garlic and ginger else it will burn) for 15 minutes.
2. Once 15 minutes is up, remove the shrimp from the marinade and remove any pieces of ginger and garlic stuck on to it. Skewer them on the sticks.
3. Set the grill to high heat and when the BBQ is hot, grill the shrimp for approximately 2-3 minutes a side.
4. Add it to the vermicelli bowl and enjoy!

 

Can you make this without a grill? You sure can! Just skip the skewer part and use a frying pan to cook the shrimp! 🙂 You can also switch up the meats and veggies to suit your moods, this is such a fun meal to play around with flavours with!

 

Experiment with different veggies and meats for your next vermicelli bowl! 🙂

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