By: Petra Chase, Arts & Culture Editor
This cold noodle salad exists in the middle of a venn diagram of everything you might look for in the perfect recipe. There’s NO COOKING involved (except for boiling the noodles), it’s easy to prep in bulk (add freshly-cut vegetables to serve), and it follows an easy formula that you can customize to your liking or whatever produce you have available! When I first made this, I was craving the cold noodles and sesame flavours of the Korean dish, japchae, but didn’t want to eat out, so I improvised with the ingredients I had on-hand. I’ve tweaked it a tinge over time, and now it’s one of my go-to’s!
The sponge-like ingredients, like tofu and mushrooms, steep in the tangy, umami flavour to make each bite mouth-watering. The texture of sticky sesame-seed coated rice noodles paired with hydrating cucumber and a kick of mint brings a refreshing touch perfect for hot summer days. This is such an easy way to get a variety of veggies in your system. Plus, it’s got plant-based protein and iron sources!
Ingredients (Makes 2–3 servings)
Base
- Dry rice stick vermicelli (2 servings or around 200 grams)
- Shimeji mushrooms (1 cup)
- Tofu puffs (up to 1 package or 160 grams)
- Peanuts (handful)
- Medium-sized cucumber
Sauce
- Sriracha (3–5 tbsps, depending on desired spice level)
- Soy sauce (3 tbsp)
- Sesame oil (1–2 tbsp)
- Rice vinegar or lemon juice (1 tbsp)
Toppings
- Sesame seeds
- Mint leaves
- Spring onion (also known as scallion)
Additional suggested components
- Avocado
- Tomato
- Lettuce
- Other vegetables as desired
Recipe
- Combine and mix ingredients in a large bowl. Add a few tablespoons of water, enough to coat the base ingredients.
- Cut your tofu puffs into quarters and separate mushrooms into individual pieces by cutting them from the base. Then, add to the sauce bowl. Make sure everything is coated in the sauce and let them soak while you continue the recipe.
- Boil the vermicelli noodles according to the package instructions. You may want to stir occasionally to avoid them sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once soft, strain and immediately run cold water over them to avoid clumping or sticking. Add them to the rest of the base ingredients with sauce once they’re no longer hot.
- Crush peanuts into small pieces using a mortar and pestle, or you can crush them under a can. Julienne the cucumber by cutting it into thin, long slices (almost like cucumber noodles — of course, this just makes for a cohesive texture but you can cut your cucumber any way you like). Add to and mix the peanuts and cucumber to the base ingredients, making sure to coat everything.
- Optional — add additional suggested components according to your preference. You may find you need to add more sauce to coat more ingredients. If you’re prepping this to eat for a later time, you should add freshly-cut vegetables closer to the serving time.
- Serve with chopped mint leaves and spring onion, and sprinkle (or drench if you’re like me) with sesame seeds.
