Vietnamese prawn salad

Ingredients (serves 4) 

• ¼ cup raw peanuts
• 150g dried rice vermicelli noodles
• 800g whole cooked prawns, peeled and deveined
• 1 cup mint leaves, roughly torn
• ½ cup roughly chopped fresh coriander
• ½ cup bean shoots
• 3 tbsp fried shallots*

Dressing

• 4 tbsp white sugar
• 4 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 long red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 2 tbsp lime juice

METHOD

To make the dressing, place the sugar, fish sauce, vinegar and a quarter cup of water in a small saucepan over high heat. Simmer until the sugar dissolves (about two minutes). Stir through the garlic, chilli and lime juice. Set aside until ready to serve.

Place the peanuts in a dry frying pan and toss over high heat until dark golden. Remove from the heat and roughly chop.

Cook the vermicelli noodles in boiling water for two minutes, or until tender. Drain and rinse under running water to cool. Use scissors to roughly cut the noodles into shorter lengths. Place the noodles in a large mixing bowl.

Add the prawns, mint, coriander, bean shoots, roasted peanuts and dressing to the noodles. Toss to thoroughly coat all the ingredients with the dressing. Pile onto a serving platter or individual plates, top with the fried shallots and serve.

*Jars or packets of ready-made fried shallots or onions can be bought from the Asian aisle of most supermarkets or an Asian grocer.

Recipe and images by Asia Express by Marion Grasby. 

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