Vietnamese lemongrass chicken rice noodles

Vietnamese lemongrass chicken rice noodles is a great dish to make with you Banh Mi leftovers. I’ve simply add all my Banh Mi recipe on top of glass noodles with an extra sesame oil and lime and there you have a whole new tasty Vietnamese dish for this summer. The only missing element are the french baguette and the spicy mayonnaise, so if you like the spicy touch, simply add a little thai peppers to the mix.

If you are looking for some light, flavored filled dish for this summer, this is a great way to go. Everything in there is so flavorful, although low in calories. If you decide, as I suggested in my previous recipe, to make a Bahn Mi BBQ, simply keep the leftovers for this recipe. Since Banh Mi is a sandwich, more suitable for lunch, this is suitable for the next diner. I’ll describe the dish here, as if you haven’t done the Banh Mi, and do this dish from scratch. If you already do, have the Banh Mi ingredients, simply start at step 5.

Let’s talk rice noodles vermicelli… I do not know about every descriptive stickers added to those packs of vermicelli in the world… but I know in Spain, the instructions says to boil them for 8 minutes, which isn’t right at all. Those fine rice noodles needs to be soaked only in warm water, off the fire. And the soaking isn’t that long, it’s about 4 minutes tops. Also a step that isn’t said enough, if you want the noodles to not become sticky, a quick rinse after the soaking period will keep them in great shape.

So let’s make this tasty light meal!

Vietnamese lemongrass chicken rice noodles

Makes 2 portions

Ingredients

The noodles

• 50g of rice vermicelli noodles
• Chicken lemongrass (see below)
• Carrots and daikon pickled (see below)
• Cilantro leaves
• 1 tbsp fish sauce or soy sauce
• 1 tsp of sesame oil
• lime

The chicken lemongrass marinade

• 2 chicken breast cut into fillets
• 2 tbsp of fish sauce (or soy sauce)
• 2 tbsp of rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp of honey
• 1 stalk of lemongrass (the tender part, take off the first leaves and the top and bottom of the stalk) chopped finely
• 1 thai pepper chopped finely
• coconut oil to cook *optional

Pickled daikon and carrots

• 3 carrots in fine sticks (julienne)
• 1 daikon in fine sticks (julienne)
• 100ml of white rice vinegar
• 100ml of water
• 60g of sugar, or honey
• salt

Directions

1. Assemble all the ingredients for the pickled carrots and daikon, marinate for minimum 1 hour (up to 24 hours)
2. Assemble all the ingredients for the chicken marinade, let marinate for a minimum of 1 hour (up to 24 hours)
3. Cook the chicken in a pan, high heat for 4-5 minutes, or on the BBQ
4. Cut the fillet into strips
5. Soak the vermicelli into warm water, (take off the fire) about 3-4 minutes and check consistency
6. When done, rinse them (it prevents them from sticking together), drain
7. Add the sesame oil to the vermicelli and mix
8. Assemble all the ingredients in a big bowl with the fish sauce, or soy sauce and lime squeeze on top

Enjoy on a hot summer day!