Thai Rice Noodles
I love Thai food. With an eye toward balancing sweet, sour, salty, and umami in every bite, even the simplest Thai recipes are delicious. But my biggest health challenge when working with Thai recipes is the sodium content. I'm all for salt for seasoning my food- it truly brings out all the flavors of a dish- but fish sauce is loaded with sodium. So here I use the smallest amount possible to still pack a ton of flavor. With its balance of fresh herbs, crunchy almonds, spicy jalapeño, and fried shallots, this recipe would make my Thai friends proud.
Ingredients
Fried Shallots
- 1 cup rice flour
- Kosher Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced into rings
- 3 cups grapeseed oil, for frying
Dressing
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- Kosher salt
Noodles
- One 8.8 oz box thin rice noodles
- 2 tbsp grapeseed oil
- 1 red or yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 bunch asparagus, cut into 2 in pieces
- 3 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
- 2 green onions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup Marcona almonds
- 1/2 cup loosely packed mint leaves
- 1/2 cup loosely packed basil leaves
- 1 jalapeño, thinly sliced
Instructions
To make the fried shallots
- In a small bowl, whisk the rice flour with a pinch each of salt and pepper. Toss the shallots in the rice flour mixture to coat.
- In a small saucepan, heat the grapeseed oil to 350 degrees F.
- Fry the shallots in batches, until golden brown and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Season with salt and set aside.
To make the dressing
- In a small bowl, whisk together the fish sauce, lime juice, maple syrup, garlic, and pepper flakes. Season with salt.
To make the noodles
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium heat.
- Add the rice noodles and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside to cool slightly. Toss with the dressing to coat.
- In a skillet over high heat, warm the grapeseed oil. Cook the pepper and asparagus until charred and tender, about 3 minutes. Add to the noodles, along with the carrots and green onions.
- Toss to combine, and season with salt and pepper; transfer to a serving dish.
- Top with almonds, mint, basil, jalapeños, and fried shallots and serve.
Notes
Reprinted from The Vibrant Life by Amanda Haas with permission by Chronicle Books, 2019
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