PRAWN & VEGETABLE RICE NOODLES

I love eating prawn vermicelli salads when I go out to Vietnamese restaurants. Making your own is actually very easy and cheaper! I like to buy ready made prawns, that is, prawns that have already been peeled and deveined themselves, if I am time poor. Otherwise super fresh prawns will do, they will just require a little more prep time to remove their shells, tails and faeces track. I love the thicker rice noodles, but you could substitute for vermicelli. As there are only 50g cooked noodles per serving, the carbs are relatively low and the meal is light. Add whatever vegetables you have on hand that can be eaten raw. 

INGREDIENTS

Noodles 

• 250g uncooked prawns, peeled, deveined & washed
• 2-3cm fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
• 2 spring onions, plus extra to serve, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil 
• 100g pad thai rice noodles (thicker than vermicelli)
• 150g green beans, trimmed and cut into small pieces 
• 1 large carrot, grated 
• 1 lebanese cucumber or 1/2 a continental cucumber, diced
• Optional - a handful of fresh coriander leaves, washed & roughly chopped 

Dressing 

2 teaspoons fish sauce 

the juice of 1 large lime

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

2 tablespoons water 

COOKING 

1. Marinate the prawns with the ginger, garlic, chilli, spring onions and oil in a medium bowl. Place in the fridge until step 4. 

2. Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan filled halfway with water to the boil, covered. Once boiled add the noodles and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the noodles are tender but not mushy. Remove from the heat and drain the noodles in a colander under cold running water, separating the noodles with a fork. 

3. Make the dressing by combining all ingredients in a small bowl and stirring to combine. 

4. Heat a small to medium fry pan over medium-low heat. Once warm add the prawns and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until the garlic and ginger is cooked and the prawns are pink in colour. Remove from heat. 

5. Place the cooked prawns in a large serving bowl with the cooked noodles. Add the beans, carrot, cucumber, a handful of spring onions and coriander, if using and toss well to combine. Drizzle the dressing over the top and toss again. 

Serves / two 
Total Preparation time / max 15 minutes (longer if you need to prepare the prawns yourself) 
Total Cooking time / 15 minutes 

x Emily 

ASIAN-INSPIRED CHICKEN SALAD

Brisbane's Brown Dog cafés’ delectable Cashew Noodle Salad inspired this recipe. I was lunching there with a dear friend last week and this Asian-inspired salad and lime tea was the perfectly light lunch. I have made this recipe twice since then, perfecting the dressing ingredients and quantities (actually remembering to write them down helps, which I do not often do!). It looks like a lot of steps, however if you do not muck around you have had this salad ready in 30 minutes. I love the idea of baking meat in the oven instead of pan-frying it, as your meat is cooked much more evenly and always comes out insatiably tender. Also, the oven warms up my un-insulated house in winter.

INGREDIENTS

Salad

• 500g free-range chicken breast, thinly sliced into even 5cm pieces
• 1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce 
• 375g rice stick noodles (pad thai thickness)
• 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped / crushed
• 250g cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
• 2 Lebanese cucumbers, cut into even small pieces
• 1/4-1/2 cup tightly packed fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped, plus extra leaves (optional)
• 1/2 cup cashews 
• Optional- fresh Chinese shallots, finely chopped 

Dressing

• the juice of 1 large lime
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons water 
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil 
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar 

COOKING 

1. Preheat a fan-forced oven to 200 degrees celsius and line a large baking tray with baking paper. 

2. Combine the chicken, sweet chilli sauce and garlic in a medium bowl and stir well to combine. Place in the fridge to marinate for a minimum of 10 minutes. 

3. Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water just over 1/2 full to the boil. When boiled add the noodles to the pan and cook, stirring frequently so they do not stick, for 5-6 minutes or until the noodles are just tender. Remove from the stove and drain & rinse well in a colander under cold water. 

4. Make the dressing by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisking well to combine. 

5. If the chicken has been marinating for at least 10 minutes, place it on the prepared baking tray in a single layer. Cook for 8 minutes and then remove from the oven, leaving to sit and continue cooking for at least 2 minutes. Cut into the biggest piece of chicken you can see to make sure that it is no longer pink inside and is instead white in colour. 

6. Whilst the chicken is baking, dry-fry the cashews on a low heat in a small frying pan on the stove. Stir regularly to make sure that they do not burn. 

7. Combine the noodles, chicken, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, coriander and toasted cashews in a large serving bowl. Drizzle the dressing over the noodles and toss well to combine. Top with extra coriander and/or chinese shallots, if you wish. 

Serves / 4 - 6 

From fridge to plate  / 30 minutes if you are fast / 40 for the more leisurely 

x Emily 

VIETNAMESE SHREDDED CHICKEN SALAD

I love making this recipe during summer, as it is fresh, light and filling. If you are looking for a substitute for chicken, 300g of tofu will do nicely. Don't be put off by the ingredients list and cooking steps, as this salad is really quite simple to make. It also serves EIGHT, which is wonderful for those of you out there that are not cooking crazy and want a dish to last you lunch and dinner for several days.  I've kept this salad as basic as possible, however you could add red cabbage, ginger, coriander, mint and other vegetables and herbs. 

INGREDIENTS

Salad

• 2 x 250g chicken breast fillets, fat removed 
• 300g wombok (Chinese cabbage), finely shredded
• 2 large carrots, grated
• 250g cucumber, roughly chopped
• 100g green beans, trimmed and roughly chopped 
• 3 green shallots, finely chopped
• 200g rice vermicelli noodles 
• Optional- extra shallots, fresh coriander 

Dressing

• the juice of 3 large limes or 4 small to medium limes 
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• approximately 6 tablespoons water 
• 4 tablespoon soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 

COOKING

1. *Because step 1 involves poaching the chicken, which takes around 25 minutes, you can use this time to prepare the vegetables*.  Place the chicken breasts in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, covered, then simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the stove and let the saucepan stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Remove the poached chicken from the pan and leave to cool for a few minutes. 

2. Meanwhile, make the dressing by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl and stirring well. Taste the dressing as you go and add more of any ingredient if need be. 

3. When the dressing is finished, soak the noodles in a large bowl or pot with boiling hot water. Make sure all the noodles are covered with water and leave to stand for 5 minutes or until the noodles are soft. Drain well in a colander or large sieve and rinse with water until cool enough to handle. I like to cut the noodles with kitchen scissors so they are easier to toss and serve. 

4. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred into small pieces. 

5. Combine the shredded chicken, wombok, grated carrot, cucumber, green beans, shallots and cooked vermicelli noodles in a large serving bowl. Drizzle the dressing over the top and toss well to combine. Serve, topped with extra chopped green shallots or coriander, if you wish. 

Serves / 8 as a main

Total Preparation time & Cooking time  / approx 35 minutes

x Emily 

ASIAN CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

When I was in Melbourne a few weekends ago, I had the most amazing $9.50 dinner at ‘Noodle House’ on the edge of Chinatown. Me and Chris trawled the city, gawking in restaurant windows to see if tables were full, as you know the old standby- if there’s lots of French/German/Chinese in a French/German/Chinese restaurant, you know the food is good! We found such a place and order bowls of noodles. Within 2 minutes of ordering the soup, they were placed in front of us (no exaggeration here) and they were MASSIVE, even by Western standards. Neither of us could finish our bowls and trust me when I say that we are hearty eaters. I vowed to make my own noodle soup dish when I returned to my kitchen. My re-creation below is super simple and very easy to make with barely any ingredients involved. Not as delectable as the Noodle House soup, but way less oil was used and it was my first attempt. Stay tuned for more.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 litres chicken stock (preferably Massel)
• 3 shallots, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil 
• 500g chicken breast, cut into even 3cm pieces
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes 
• 400g rice noodles 

COOKING 

1. Place chicken stock, sesame oil and chicken in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring chicken occasionally. When stock has boiled, check that chicken is cooked through (a good way to do this is to remove the largest piece of chicken from the pot and cut into the middle, making sure that no pink colouring remains). Add noodles, separately with a fork and cooking for 1 minute. Remove from heat and serve warm. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 5 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 6-7 minutes 

x E

CHICKEN STOCK STIR-FRY

Another stir-fry for your viewing/reading pleasure. This stir-fry was meant to be a soup, however it appeared throughout the cooking process that I did not use enough stock, hence the stir-fry was born. As I was heading to Melbourne for the weekend for a royal eat-a-thon with my extended family, I decided that a simple vegetable chicken dinner would be a nice detoxing meal before the epic feeding. Super easy to make, add 2 more cups of chicken or vegetable stock to make a soup instead. If you like more sauce, drizzle tamari sauce on top (or soy sauce for you lucky non-gluten intolerance people!).

INGREDIENTS

• 400g chicken breast, cut into even strips
• 1 small carrot, finely chopped
• 100g green beans, trimmed & cut in half
• 1 medium green capsicum, finely chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely diced
• 1 broccoli head, florets & stalks chopped
• 2 cups chicken/vegetable stock 
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• Optional- tamari sauce to serve 

COOKING 

1. Heat oil in a large wok over medium heat, swirling to coat the surface. Add chicken and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 4-5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and no pink colour remains. Add stock and cut up vegetables,  and stir occasionally for 6-7 minutes or until vegetables are tender. 

2. Whilst vegetables are cooking, bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add rice noodles and cook for 2-3 minutes, separating the noodles. Remove from heat when noodles are tender but not soggy and drain well with cold water. 

3. Add drained noodles to the wok and toss with the chicken and cooked vegetables for 1-2 minutes, until all combined. Serve warm, with a drizzle of tamari sauce if you desire. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 15 minutes 

x E

HONEY SOY CHICKEN

After a long day, there is no easier dinner to make than an Asian stir-fry. I remember my mother swearing by them when we were younger. She would somehow manage to cook a minimum of 9 vegetables in her well-used wok along with tender chicken. I am ashamed to admit that I got sick of those stir-fries and begged for any other meal whilst I lived at home. Nowadays, having been out of home for years, fending for myself in the wild, I relish the chance to sit down with her perfected stir-fries. Whilst my attempts never include as many vegetables as hers did (my fridge is simply not big enough to store kilos of wombok, beans and broccoli) I try to make the sauce different each time so that my oblivious boyfriend has no idea that the dinner is basically the same as last week….

INGREDIENTS

• 440g rice noodles (gluten-free)
• 500g chicken breast, cut into 3cm pieces and all fat removed
• 1 head of broccoli, cut into florets and stems
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 150g green beans, trimmed and cut in half
• 1/2 a carrot, grated
• 2cm piece of fresh ginger, grated
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons honey soy marinade (gluten-free)

Dressing

• 3 tablespoons honey soy marinade
• 1 teaspoon gluten-free fish sauce 
• 1 tablespoon tamari sauce 

COOKING 

1. Marinade chicken with 3 tablespoons honey soy marinade and leave in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes. 

2. Heat sesame oil in a large ok and swirl wok around to coat. Add garlic and ginger to the wok and stir for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Add chicken breast and cook, stirring often, until chicken is coloured and cooked through (this will be when no pink flesh is visible). Add broccoli, beans and carrot and stir frequently, cooking the vegetables through. This may take around 6-7 minutes. 

3. Meanwhile, cook rice noodles by placing them in a saucepan or large heatproof bowl with boiling water. Gently break the noodles apart with a fork to separate. Drain well. 

4. Make the dressing by combining the three ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. 

5. Add the noodles to the wok and stir for 30 seconds to combine noodles, chicken and vegetables. Remove from heat and place in a large serving bowl. Drizzle dressing on top and toss to combine. Serve warm. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes (plus 30 refrigeration time)

Total Cooking time /  20 minutes 

x E