Cold Shrimp & Vietnamese Vermicelli Noodles
A light, delicious rice noodle with Asian flavors and cold shrimp, fresh cilantro and cucumber - a perfect dish for a hot summer day.
In this case, Vermicelli is a bit a misnomer. Vermicelli, as the reader might infer, is an Italian pasta and like almost all Italian pastas, it is made of durum wheat semolina and eggs. Sometimes, they are called noodles.
But in the US, a product cannot legally be called a "noodle" unless it contains eggs. And therein lies the rub.
When Vietnamese and other Asian countries began to export a very fine, thin noodle made of rice flour without eggs, they were in their native tongue, in fact, called noodles. In Vietnamese, Bún Tươi means "Fresh Noodles.” But US food labeling laws would not allow that to be translated into English on the package.
An Italian Work-Around
So, Vietnamese packagers found that the Italian word for the small, thin noodle was "Vermicelli" and there were no US food labeling laws against use of that word, even if the pasta, in fact, was not made in the traditional Italian way with wheat flour and eggs. So, worldwide, Vietnamese rice noodles have become widely known a Vermicelli and never mind that in Italian, that translates to "Little Worms."
Food labeling laws have relaxed a little since then and now, the word “noodle” is allowed if a qualifying adjective is also used, like rice noodles, Asian noodles, Thai noodles, etc. But the word "vermicelli" stuck for the Vietnamese variety of rice noodles, and did not change. A popular brand for these delicious rice noodles in the US is Ba Cô Gái, which means, Three Ladies.
I made first made this dish when I lived in North Texas during a heat wave that at the time was the hottest August on record with near sixty days of over 100°F temperatures and no rain. To this day, this is a comforting meal on a hot summer day no matter where you live.
Cold Shrimp & Vietnamese Vermicelli Noodles
Ingredients
- 16 oz of Vietnamese Vermicelli rice noodles
- 1 lb cooked large or jumbo shrimp, peeled, de-veined and tails off, chilled
- juice of one fresh lime juice
- zest of 1/2 fresh lime
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 2 tsp garlic, minced
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp fresh or jarred ginger, grated (do not use dried)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp sriracha sauce (like, Huy Fong)
- 1/2 tsp table sugar
- 1 cup English cucumber, peeled and cut into matchsticks
- 1/2 cup carrots, grated or shredded
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper, julienned
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, rough chopped, plus more for garnish
Instructions
- Cook the noodles according to the directions on the package in boiling salted water (usually 2-3 minutes). Drain well, rinse in cold water and then refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer. Use the noodles in the recipe only after they are well chilled.
- Mix the lime juice, lime zest, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, sriracha sauce, and sugar together in a large mixing bowl with a wire whisk.
- Add the noodles, shrimp, carrots, red bell pepper, cilantro and English cucumber to the sauce and stir well to coat and combine.
- Separate the dish into chilled pasta bowls and top with more fresh cilantro.
Notes
- Frozen shrimp thaw very quickly in a colander under cold running water, turning and tossing the shrimp frequently to get its cold water shower.
- Do this about 30 minutes prior to cooking, then wrap the shrimp in paper towels and put in the refrigerator to dry out before using.
- If the noodles are sticky when you bring them out of the refrigerator, just rinse them in cold water and drain well.
