Seasonal Ontario Food

It's not necessary to serve this with Nem Nuong, but we did, and together they made a complete and excellent meal. 

 

Bean thread noodles are also known as cellophane noodles, or glass noodles. You can now get them at the local grocery store, amazingly enough. They are a resistant starch so have a low glycemic load. I've always felt serene and happy after eating them, partly because I love them but partly because I think they don't mess with my blood sugar. 

 

4 servings

30 minutes prep time

 

2 tablespoons fish sauce

the juice of 1 large lime

1 or 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons mild vegetable oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1 clove of garlic

1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

 

Whisk or shake all the ingredients together is a small bowl or jam jar. 

 

2 rolls (100 grams) mung bean noodles

1 cup finely shredded cabbage

1 cup grated carrot

2 or 3 green onions

2 small greenhouse cucumbers

1/4 of a large red or yellow greenhouse pepper

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup chopped mint leaves

 

Bring a pot of water to a boil, then drop in the noodles and let them soak for 8 minutes. (If your package has other directions to prepare them, follow those directions.) Rinse them in cold water and drain them well. Snip them into shorter lengths and put them in a mixing bowl. 

Meanwhile, wash, trim, and shred the carrot. Peel and grate the carrot. Wash, trim, and finely chop the green onions. Wash, trim, and grate or finely chop the cucumbers. Wash, core, and finely chop the pepper. Wash, dry, and mince the cilantro and mint leaves. All of these go in with the noodles. 

Toss the salad, then add the dressing and toss again. Serve as-is, or with Nem Nuong; both can be wrapped in rice wrappers as spring rolls if you like. 

Last year at this time I made Gone-to-Seed Carrots.