What is Vermicelli Noodle Salad?
Vietnamese vermicelli noodle salad, or bun, is a very delicious cold noodle dish with lots of fresh veggies and delicious marinated meats, drenched in a delicious sweet and tangy fish sauce. The noodles should be room temperature, the meat should be hot, and the veggies should be cold. This creates a fun and interesting dish.
For other Vietnamese cooking ideas, check out my Vietnamese Spring Rolls.
An Easy Entertaining Idea
Lots of Vietnamese food is self-assemble, which makes it an entertainer’s dream! Simply lay out the noodles, chopped veggies, and meats, and allow your guests to serve themselves. It takes the guess work out of entertaining and everyone can tailor the dish to their own tastes, especially the amount of sauce that goes into the noodle dish. I like mine drenched!
How do I choose a vermicelli noodle?
In general, you want to choose a rice vermicelli noodle product from Vietnam or Thailand. Those tend to be better quality. No offense, but products from China are often full of strange chemicals that are harmful to the body, so I would avoid such food products if at all possible.
What is in a vermicelli noodle salad?
vermicelli noodles
lettuce
shredded cucumber
bean sprouts
mint
crushed peanuts
barbecue meat
fish sauce
fried egg rolls
Can I make vermicelli salad ahead of time?
A cardinal rule of most Vietnamese food is that you must keep the components separate until the moment you are about to eat the dish. So assemble only right before you eat your vermicelli noodle salad. Once the sauce is mixed into everything, the dish will not keep for long. If you wish to prep this ahead of time, I would make all the individual components of the dish and store them separately. Then assemble and add sauce when you are about to eat it. The vermicelli should be stored with the meat so that they may be reheated. The raw veggies should be stored together as they are eaten cold and raw. The sauce should be separate and so should the roasted peanuts for topping.
How to make Vietnamese barbecue
Vietnamese vermicelli noodle salad often features lemongrass barbecue pork. The marinated barbecue pork shared in this recipe can be used for vermicelli noodle salad, Vietnamese broken rice, or spring rolls. Or you can just eat it with some white rice and call it a night.
They key to Vietnamese barbecue is the marinade:
- oyster sauce
- fish sauce
- lemongrass
- garlic
- ginger
- sugar
Because there is sugar in this marinade, burning will occur if your fire is on too high. Keep heat at medium or even medium low when cooking.
Making Vietnamese Fish Sauce for Dipping (Nuoc Mam)
Prepared fish sauce for dipping is an essential flavor component of most Vietnamese dishes. It is made of fish sauce, lemon, sugar, chile, and water. My family has always made it with chopped garlic as an aromatic.
This prepared fish sauce is best when you give it time for its flavors to meld together. I recommend making the sauce the night before for best results. If not, then at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Always keep this sauce refrigerated and stored in a clean jar with a lid. This sauce is the same that is used for dipping in many Vietnamese salad and noodle salad dishes, so it is handy dandy to have some lying around if you are a fan of Vietnamese food.
You can keep it in your refrigerator for several months as long as you do not contaminate the jar of fish sauce with any other foods.
Happy cooking!
Vietnamese Vermicelli Salad -Bun
Ingredients
- 1 pack vermicelli noodles
Lemongrass BBQ Pork
- 1 lb pork shoulder thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp minced lemongrass
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
Toppings
- 1 cucumber julienned
- 1 bunch cilantro chopped
- 1 bunch mint chopped
- 1 bunch red or green lettuce chopped
- 1 handful peanuts crushed
- 1 carrot julienned optional
Fish Sauce
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1.5 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp lemon juice or lime juice
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 1 tsp sambal chili sauce to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. When water is boiling, add vermicelli noodles and cook according to package directions. When noodles are ready, remove from boiling water and place into a bowl of cold/iced water to stop the cooking process. Drain in a collander and set aside.
Lemongrass BBQ Pork
- Marinate pork in lemongrass, minced garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce, and sugar. Allow to sit at least 1 hour. Overnight preferred.When meat is marinated enough, turn on skillet on high. When pan is hot, add oil and reduce heat to medium. Add in pork and fry on each side until golden brown ~5 minutes each side. Set aside.
Vegetable Fillings
- Thinly slice fresh vegetables and herbs. Set aside. Optional: pickle carrot in equal parts sugar, water, salt, and vinegar. Set aside.
Fish Sauce
- Make fish sauce by adding minced garlic, sugar, fish sauce, lemon juice, hot water, and sambal. Allow to sit refrigerated at least 30 minutes.
Vermicelli Salad Assembly
- Place a bed of noodles into a large bowl. Then top with lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts, mint, and cilantro. Add barbecue pork. Top with crushed toasted peanuts and pour in desired amount of fish sauce, enough to dress the salad and noodles.
Happy cooking! Tag me on Instagram @Jennskitchendiary if you’ve made this! 🙂
