Asian Noodle Salad

A couple nights ago, I was faced with a dilemma.  I felt like having Asian food, but the weather this past week has been so hot that I felt like a nice, cool salad!  I opened the fridge and looked through the vegetable drawers.  We had onions, bell peppers, cilantro, mushrooms, snap peas, Chinese cabbage, celery, and shredded carrots.  Then, suddenly, I had an idea.  I had all the ingredients to make a chilled Asian Noodle Salad!

⅔ cup honey
⅔ cup white vinegar
⅔ cup soy sauce
1 TBSP fish sauce
1 tsp chili paste
1 tsp lime juice
1 3" piece of ginger, minced
10 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sesame oil
1 bunch cilantro1 onion, finely chopped
12 oz. mushrooms, finely sliced½ head celery, finely chopped
3 bell peppers, thinly sliced into strips½ bag shredded carrots from Trader Joe's
1 lb. snap peas
1 Chinese cabbage16 oz. mung bean noodles
8 oz. frozen pre-cooked medium shrimp from Trader Joe's
Coconut Oil

Put the frozen shrimp in a small bowl and defrost until they are soft, but still cold.  Once defrosted, put in the fridge.

Fill a large pot with water, add 2 tsp salt, and heat on the stove until it comes to a boil.

While the shrimp are defrosting and the water is coming to a boil, it's time to start on the dressing!

Put the honey, vinegar, and soy sauce in a small pot and heat to a low simmer.

Add the fish sauce, chili paste, lime juice, ginger, 5 cloves of the garlic, and the sesame oil to the soy sauce mixture.

Turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for 5 minutes.  Remove the lid and let the dressing finish cooling.

Now that the dressing is done, lets move on to the main body of the salad.

Finely chop the cilantro and put it in a large bowl.

Add the celery and bell peppers to the cilantro and mix thoroughly.  Put the vegetables in the fridge to cool off.

Preheat a large pan coated in coconut oil.

Once the oil is sizzling, add the onion and remaining 5 cloves garlic, then sauté until translucent.

Add the mushrooms to the onions and garlic.

Sauté the mushrooms until they have turned a golden brown and are meaty in texture.

Turn off the heat and let the mushrooms cool completely, then add them to the chopped vegetables from earlier and mix thoroughly until all the ingredients are completely combined.  Put the vegetable mixture back in the fridge.

Add the mung bean noodles to the boiling water, cover, and turn off the heat immediately.

Let the noodles sit in the water for 5 minutes, then drain into a clean colander.

Rinse the noodles with cold water until they are completely cooled and not stuck together.  Trim into smaller pieces with sterile scissors, then rinse one final time.

Put the snap peas in a large bowl and toss with some of the dressing from earlier.

Cut the base off the Chinese cabbage and separate into individual leaves, discarding the tiny inner leaves.

Toss the defrosted shrimp with some of the dressing from earlier, then put back in the fridge to marinate.

Transfer the snap peas to a grill basket, then grill on a preheated BBQ until they are just barely browned, but still crispy.

Grill the Chinese cabbage leaves until the are beginning to brown on the edges.

Chiffonade the leaves into thin slices.

Add the Chinese cabbage and shrimp, along with the shrimp marinade, to the vegetable mixture from earlier.

Mix the shrimp/vegetable mixture with the mung bean noodles and dressing until you have reached your desired ratio.  You may have some noodles or dressing left, or you may not.  It all depends on your preference!

Chill the finished salad in the fridge until you are ready to eat.

This delicious salad is ideal served chilled, no toppings needed!

To see more of my pictures you can find me on Instagram at @audreygracephotography.