Vietnamese Vermicelli


Canadian Living Magazine: May 2005
Serves 2 to 3

Beef Marinade:
8 oz (250 g) top sirloin or strip loin grilling steak (1 inch/ 2.5 cm thick)
1 tbsp (15 mL) minced shallot or green onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp (5 mL) granulated sugar
1 tsp (5 mL) fish sauce or soy sauce
Vermicelli Salad:
1/2 cup (125 mL) vegetable oil
1/2 cup (125 mL) very thinly sliced shallots
2 oz (60 g) rice vermicelli
2 cups (500 mL) shredded lettuce
2 cups (500 mL) thinly sliced English cucumber
1/4 cup (50 mL) chopped fresh coriander, mint or basil (or a combination)
1/4 cup (50 mL) chopped dry roasted peanuts
1 green onion, thinly sliced
Noodle Sauce:
1/3 cup (75 mL) fresh lime juice
2 tbsp (25 mL) fish sauce (I just used soy sauce since I did not have fish sauce.)
1 tsp (5 mL) granulated sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp (5 mL) hot red pepper or jalapeƱo pepper, minced

Trim fat from steak. With knife held at 45-degree angle, cut steak crosswise into 6 equal pieces. Place each between plastic wrap; with meat pounder, pound each until about 6 inches (15 cm) long, 3 inches (8 cm) wide and 1/4 inch (5 mm) thick. Place in bowl. Add minced shallot, minced garlic, granulated sugar and fish sauce; toss to coat. Let stand for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Noodle Sauce:
In glass measure, whisk together lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, garlic and hot pepper. Set aside.
(Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.)

Vermicelli Salad:
Meanwhile, in small skillet, heat oil over medium heat until it bubbles. Add shallots; fry until golden, about 4 minutes. With slotted spoon, remove to paper towel-lined plate. Set skillet of shallot oil aside.In bowl, cover vermicelli with boiling water and soak until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain; rinse in cold water. Return to bowl; toss with 1 tsp (5 mL) of the reserved shallot oil. Divide lettuce between two or three large bowls or plates. Top with cucumber, half of the coriander and the vermicelli; sprinkle with peanuts and fried shallots. Set aside.Thread beef onto skewers; brush with 1 tbsp (15 mL) of the reserved shallot oil. Reserve remaining shallot oil for another use. Broil beef until dark and crusty, about 8 minutes. (I just stir fried some prepared *already cut up* beef I bought at the meat counter. Broiling sounds like it might be better though! Or even grilling on a BBQ!)
Place on top of noodles; drizzle with any pan juices. Sprinkle with green onion and remaining coriander. To eat, pour noodle sauce over vermicelli salad and toss to combine.

*A few notes on this recipe:*
*The recipe calls for dry roasted peanuts, but I have always just used lightly salted cocktail peanuts.
*The last ingredient, hot red pepper or jalapeno pepper, I just put a dash of dried crushed red pepper instead.
*And in case you are like me as of a few months ago, and don’t know what coriander is it is actually referred to as cilantro here in the states.
*I also use regular vermicelli pasta noodles from the pasta isle. Not rice vermicelli…

11 comments:

Bonnie said...

Thanks Khris !

I was laughing about the coriander because for YEARS, I'm serious, YEARS !! ... I lived in this country searching for cilantro ... buying it dried in the States when we visited ... until one day, I found out that cilantro and coriander was the same thing !! A great day in history ~ well, my history anyway !! :)

jamestownboys said...

I don't think they taste the same - so coriander is dried cilantro?
so weird!!

Bonnie said...

Beth ... dried coriander is dried cilantro. Fresh coriander is fresh cilantro ... I'd definitely use fresh in this recipe !! I've tried this one ... it's good !!

Khrista said...

yes, what Bonnie said! The fresh cilantro is a MUST in this dish! If I had forgotten to buy fresh cilantro, I wouldn't even bother making this dish! It's that important! ha! :)
I think Bonnie finally tipped me off about the coriander/cilantro confusion...or it could have been the oh so fabulous Jamie Oliver... ;) (I have a secret crush!) You should catch some of his cooking shows...my fave is Jamie at Home on Food TV. I REALLY want the book Jamie at Home! It just came out last month!

jamestownboys said...

That's what happens when you have zero cable - never heard of Jamie Oliver :(.
I LOVE cilantro. Anything with cilantro is amazing!!! I could almost just eat it plain. Almost.
I want to try this recipe but it looks HOT. Is it spicy hot? Could the hot red pepper/jalapeno pepper be optional?

jamestownboys said...

ooh I have a salad recipe I need to post. It has a yummy cilantro dressing on top. It's basically a taco salad with sweet chicken and cilantro sauce over the top.
I'll post that soon.

Bonnie said...

Oh my goodness Beth, I can't believe you don't know Jamie Oliver ! You'd love him. I don't have cable either but it's on normal TV here. He's got DVD's. My library carries them. Your might too. They will FOR SURE (?) carry his cook books ! You should see if you can get your hands on one ... he's got a number of them now. BUT ... if you can see one of his DVD's, you should. His accent ... (I'm with Khrista ... secret crush !!)

jamestownboys said...

:)
I'm going to google him and see if I can get something at the library!
Thanks

jamestownboys said...

Ah ha.
I have seen him - I saw him last time I sat in the waiting room at the OBGYN!!! ha ha. He came into some woman's kitchen, planned and cooked a meal for her. very cool.
I want that!

Khrista said...

To answer your question Beth, the pepper can be omitted. When prepared by the recipe it is not spicy, but adds a little tiny kick. I'm sure it would taste just as great without it!
Just don't forget the cilantro! ha! ha! (I'll shut up about cilantro now! :)

Sabba and Nanny said...

We have become enamored of the Vietnamese restaurants around here. The soup, noodles, egg rolls, everything is wonderful.