Vietnamese Cuisine Archives - Healthy World Cuisine https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe-category/international-cuisines/vietnamese-cuisine/ Sat, 14 Jun 2025 21:11:35 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.hwcmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/cropped-favicon-1-32x32.png Vietnamese Cuisine Archives - Healthy World Cuisine https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe-category/international-cuisines/vietnamese-cuisine/ 32 32 Essential Asian Pantry Staples: Your Guide to Cooking https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/essential-asian-pantry-staples/ https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/essential-asian-pantry-staples/#comments Sat, 24 May 2025 18:08:48 +0000 https://www.hwcmagazine.com/?p=32384 Do you want to learn how to cook easy and healthy East Asian recipes? It all starts with Healthy World's Cuisine's printable shopping list of Essential Asian Pantry Staples. Most of these basic ingredients can be found right at your local grocery store.  In addition, we will be sharing some of our easy substitutions tips...

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Do you want to learn how to cook easy and healthy East Asian recipes? It all starts with Healthy World's Cuisine's printable shopping list of Essential Asian Pantry Staples. Most of these basic ingredients can be found right at your local grocery store.  In addition, we will be sharing some of our easy substitutions tips so you can start making some of your favorite Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Korean or Vietnamese recipes straight away.

Essential Asian Pantry Staples for the everyday cook all set out on the wooden table.

We cook healthy recipes from all over the world. But hands down our favorite easy recipes are cooking healthy East Asian dishes with bold umami flavors. Whether we are whipping up a quick and easy Asian steamed fish, bay scallops stir fry with spring veggies or Thai Style ground beef bowls, these basic pantry supplies are essential.

Jump to:

Getting Organized

It all started with the spring cleaning of the kitchen and organizing the pantry! Oh my, as you know that is a big job! After watching several videos with Marie Kondo (sweet Japanese lady known for her tidying up methods), we got the organizing bug.

We sorted, organized, analyzed the basic requirements from all the hundreds of sauces, spices and aromatics, created this guide for you and a helpful video. In this ultimate guide of essential Asian pantry staples, you will learn more about each ingredient, where to buy it, how to store it and a delicious recipe to try it in.

This is not an exhaustive list of every Asian ingredient known to man. Instead, this is a concise list includes of our everyday supplies OR common ingredients that are used in more than one Asian Cuisine. For very specific Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Korean ingredients, we will have special edition ingredient pantry posts for each of these special cuisines. So, let's get started!

Please note: This post in not sponsored in any way. Theses are just some of the regular items we currently have in our pantry.

13 Essential Asian Pantry Staples for the Everyday Cook

Are you new to East Asian cooking or are you looking to expand your repertoire of recipes? With these 13 cooking essentials, you are going to take your recipes to the next level. There are 5 flavors in Asian cooking: savory, sweet, spicy, sour, and bitter. When you blend them together - you get one delicious bite. Balancing the aromatics, spices, sauces, and ingredients together takes a little practice but we are here to help. Let's make your taste buds sing with these Asian pantry basics.

Photo comparing jasmine, sushi and glutinous rice.

1. Rice

Naturally gluten-free, inexpensive, and filling, rice is one of the main carbohydrates of choice in East Asian cuisine.  It's a delicious way to lop up stir fry sauces, a hearty addition to congee soups, or even a fun addition to desserts like mango sticky rice. The rice varieties of East Asian cuisine include Jasmine rice, regular long grained rice, Sushi rice and glutinous rice. Going low carb? Try cauliflower rice or skip it all together and add more veggies.

How to Store Rice Please keep uncooked rice in an airtight container in a cool, dry place up to 4 to 5 years. Please note that Thai Jasmine rice may lose some of its aroma with extended shelf life. Cooked and cooled rice can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days or frozen up to 6 months.

Fragrant Thai Jasmine Rice

This is our favorite long grained rice. It has a jasmine flower or pandan leaf aroma due to a compound occurring naturally in the rice and is less sticky making it perfect for Hong Kong Fried Rice. We always look for the Thai Hom Mali labeling which assures the highest export quality of premium Thai grown jasmine rice. You can purchase Thai Jasmine rice in your regular grocery store in the Asian Food section, online or in an Asian food market.

Regular Long Grain Rice

Your standard run of the mill long grain rice is grown around the world. It does not have the special Jasmine aroma but it can be found easily in a regular grocery store.

Japanese Short Grained Rice

It's also called sushi rice. This type of rice is stickier making it the perfect choice for crab sushi bake, tuna mayo rice balls or Korean rice balls. If your local grocery store has a VERY robust Asian food section, you may be able to find it there. Look for our favorite brands like Nishiki or Koshihikari or you may need to purchase traditional Japanese sushi rice at a dedicated Asian food market or online.

Glutinous Rice

Have you ever tried this type of rice also called sticky rice or sweet rice? It does not contain gluten but the texture is glue-like but chewy and completely addictive. This is not an essential ingredient per say but it is used in many different East Asian cuisines. A must have ingredient if you enjoy mango sticky rice.

Cantonese egg noodles, pad Thai noodles, soba and udon noodles dried in original packaging on the wooden table.

2. Noodles

It's a noodle lover's paradise out there with so many choices. From fun textured glass noodles in our spicy tomato soup to soba noodle salad, there is something for everyone. Some noodles can be found in the Asian section of your grocery store, online or Asian Market.

Don't stress it if you cannot find what you need. You can substitute regular spaghetti or angel hair pasta and still make something extra delicious. Listed below are some of our favorites - choose the ones you like best.

How to Store Noodles: Fresh uncooked noodles are best used in a couple of days or for extended storage in the freezer for 3 months. Dried uncooked noodles can last a long time, even years if stored in a cool and dry environment.

Rice noodles

Rice noodles come in many sizes from super thin to super thick. We use a medium size noodle for Pad Thai and vermicelli sized noodles in our golden spiced noodle soup. The good news is that you can usually find these in the regular grocery store in the Asian food section and many are gluten free.

Lo Mein or Chow Mein Noodles

These noodles are typically made with wheat flour and eggs. Lo Mein are usually fresh noodles sold in the refrigerated section of an Asian grocery store. However, chow mein noodles can be dried. An easy substitution is Italian angel hair pasta.

Soba Noodles

Soba are made with buckwheat flour and sometimes wheat. If you are celiac, be sure to read the ingredients label. They can be enjoyed hot or cold like in our soba noodle salad with yuzu dressing. You can find Japanese soba noodles fresh or dried in Asian markets or online.

Udon Noodles

Udon is a delicious addition to Japanese and Korean recipes and are made with wheat flour, water, and salt. They are chewy, thick, and fun to eat in our tempura udon soup and Sukiyaki beef udon. You can find fresh or frozen udon in an Asian Market. Sometimes, you can find the dried version in the regular grocery store in the Asian section.

Rice Vermicelli

Super fun to eat, these extra thin noodles are made with rice flour and water. We soak them in hot water to cook and rinse in cool water to stop the cooking process. Rice noodles turn opaque when cooked. They are the perfect slurping noodle in our Vietnamese shrimp vermicelli salad. You can find rice vermicelli noodles online or in Asian market dried.

Glass Noodles

Sometimes glass noodles are referred to as cellophane noodles, fensi, bean thread noodles or Chinese vermicelli if made with mung bean starch. In addition, they can be made with sweet potato noodles like in our camote bihon dish from the Philippines. They have a very fun springy texture and turn translucent when cooked. Glass noodles can be found dried at the Asian market or online.

Others Noodles like ramen, homemade wontons for soup and many others are a delicious addition to the pantry.

Light traditional soy sauce and dark soy sauce on the wooden table.

3. Soy Sauce

When you think about Asian cooking, what's the first condiment you come up? We bet you guessed soy sauce, right! It's a wildly popular condiment used in Asian cuisine used to add a savory umami flavoring to dishes. We can't picture our pork and bamboo stir fry or dipping sauces without it.

Traditional soy sauce is made with four basic ingredients: soybeans, wheat, salt, and water. After the tedious process of fermenting, mixing, aging, pressing, heating, and bottling, its ready to add a pop of delicious flavor to your dishes. 

How to Store Soy Sauce: This Asian pantry ingredient can be stored at room temperature away from light and in a cool place, even after opened. If you do not use this condiment frequently, you can store in the refrigerator to maintain its flavor and quality. The four main types of soy sauce and substitutions are listed below.

Light Soy Sauce

Traditional or light soy sauce is the ingredient to be used when a recipe calls for soy sauce but does not specify which type. It is saltier, thinner, and lighter in color compared to dark or sweet soy sauce. You can find this at pretty much any grocery store in the US or in Asia.

Dark Soy Sauce

Dark soy sauce is thicker, darker, a bit richer but less salty in flavor compared to light soy sauce. Is it essential? Our answer is no. However, because dark soy sauce is used in more than one Asian cuisine, it is listed here. It is usually used in dishes like tea smoked chicken or noodle dishes to add color. Unfortunately, this ingredient is usually only available at an Asian market or online.

Sweet Soy Sauce (Kecap Manis)

If you want to cook a lot of Indonesian cuisine, sweet soy sauce would be a nice addition to your kitchen staples. It is much thicker than light or dark soy sauce and its sweet and savory. This item will need to be purchased at an Asian grocery store or online.

Tamari Sauce

This type of Japanese type of soy sauce that is made usually without wheat. Tamari makes it a good gluten free alternative. However, please note that we find that it is slightly stronger and saltier compared to light soy sauce.

Coconut Aminos

A good gluten free soy sauce alternative is coconut aminos. This sauce made from the sap of coconut blossoms and salt. We think it tastes less salty compared to Tamari sauce.

Thai Red Boat fish sauce on a wooden table.

4. Fish Sauce

If you have ever smelled fish sauce, you know exactly the aroma we are talking about. Yep! Its stinky, funky and is a savory flavor bomb for many Thai, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian and Pilipino cuisines. It's made with fermented fish and salt.

Packed with savory, funky and umami flavors that make recipes like prik nam pla and Thai turkey meatballs in a coconut curry sauce pop! You can usually find fish sauce in the US in the regular grocery store in the Asian food section. A delicious gluten free option brand that we use all the time is Red Boat.

How to Store Fish Sauce: It is shelf stable in a cool dark place with the lid on tight. If you do not use fish sauce frequently, we recommend refrigeration based on the expiration of the bottle.

Roasted sesame oil Japanese brand sitting on the wooden table.

5. Sesame Oil

It's nutty, aromatic, and so delicious! It's one of our favorite essential Asian pantry staples. Sesame oil is made by extracting the oil from sesame seeds. There are 3 types.

  • Light Raw Sesame Seed Oil is the cheapest option but not very nutty because it is not roasted. It's usually used for light stir frying or cooking.
  • Premium Roasted Sesame Oil is made from roasted white sesame seeds. Its dark amber color and the ingredient you need for an East Asian pantry. It is used as a finishing oil and is deeply nutty in everything from an quick and easy stir fried romaine lettuce to orange glazed salmon bites.  It's a pretty common ingredient you can find in the US grocery store down the international food isle.
  • Black Sesame Seed Oil is made from black sesame seeds and is rich and nutty. This specialty ingredient is available at an Asian market or online.

How to Store Sesame Oil: Please store in a cool and dark location. As sesame seeds can go rancid, we recommend using it within 6 months.

Chinese Shaoxing, Japanese mirin and sake cooking wines on the wooden table.

6. Cooking Wine

Rice wine is an important Asian pantry essential, so stock up. It's used in marinades especially to get rid of gamey or fish aromas before cooking. Cooking wine helps tenderize meats, flavor soups and perk up stir fry sauces like our hot and spicy mandarin orange chicken. There are many different Asian cooking wines to choose from. If you cannot find rice wine, then just substitute it with cooking sherry.

How to Store Cooking Wine: This product can be stored at room temperature in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. After you open it, try to use it within 6 months or store in the refrigerator for longer shelf life. If it starts smelling like vinegar, it has gone bad.

Shaoxing (Chinese Rice Wine)

We use Shaoxing wine for most of our Cantonese recipes. If you live in China and purchase Shaoxing wines from the Zhejiang province, you can get the "real deal" without any added salt. You could pour yourself a glass and drink it.

Unfortunately, if you purchase Shaoxing wine anywhere else in the world they add salt for tax purposes, and to sell it as a cooking ingredient instead of alcohol. Don't be pouring yourself a glass to drink unless you like a salty wine!

Japanese and Korean Recipe Cooking Wines

We prefer to use mirin, ashi-mirin, or even sake. These are Japanese rice wines and all three are a little different flavor profile.

  • Mirin (Hon-Mirin) is a sweet Japanese rice wine. It is fermented the natural way and has a natural sweetness. It has a higher alcohol concentration, is more expensive and is available at an Asian Market, so it is harder to find.
  • Ashi-Mirin is also a sweet Japanese rice wine. However, instead of the natural fermentation process they add sweeteners, salt, and other flavors to boost its flavor. Some robust US grocery stores have ashi-mirin down the international isle.
  • Sake is a rice wine meant for drinking. The alcohol is not sweet like mirin but sometimes we use this if we are having a little whilst cooking.
Rice wine vinegar bottle on the wooden counter.

7. Rice Vinegar

From the zippy sauce on General Tso's chicken wings to a tangy dressing for a soba noodle salad, rice vinegar is good shelf stable ingredient to have in an Asian pantry. You can find it at any grocery store. If not, feel free to substitute with apple cider vinegar or even plain white vinegar. When you are looking for rice vinegar at the grocery store, you are looking for plain rice vinegar and not sushi (seasoned) rice vinegar that has sugar and salt added.

How to Store Rice Vinegar: It can be stored at room temperature in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight for many years.

8. Neutral Oil

We are going to go ahead and let you decide which type of neutral oil you wish to use. For stir frying, it is best to use an oil that has a high smoke point. In China, they use peanut oil but with so many nut allergies we stay away from this option. At home, we use avocado oil or in a pinch even olive oil. Olive oil does not have a high smoke point but it's a healthier option. 

How to Store Oil: It can be stored at room temperature in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. It can last 6 to 8 months.

Garlic, green onion and ginger on a black plate.

9. Aromatics

Garlic, green onions, and ginger are the trio of aromatics commonly used in our Asian kitchen. You may also like to add coriander (cilantro), fresh chilis to the list, or check post on essential Thai herbs and spices if you love Thai recipes. Fresh is best especially when making dishes like steamed fish. However, in a pinch try aromatic pastes or even substitute dried herbs and spices.

How to Store Aromatics: Fresh green onions, ginger, chilis and coriander are best stored in the refrigerator. To keep cilantro fresh a longer time. Place the ends in a glass of water and cover loosely with a plastic bag. Change the water daily. However, garlic is best stored at room temperature.

Homemade garlic chili sauce next to a bottle of store bough Sriracha sauce.

10. Sriracha or Chili Sauce

Have you tried our recipe for Asian Chili Garlic Sauce? A little something spicy along with savory, sweet and sour is what makes Asian recipes so addictive. It is like a party in your mouth. If you crave something spicy, but are short on time, Sriracha sauce is easily assessable at most regular grocery stores down the international isle. Mix a little Sriracha sauce in some Kewpie mayo with lime for a delicious topping to a Vietnamese crab pizza.

How to Store Sriracha Sauce: Once opened, store in the refrigerator until the best due date. Some say it can last up to 3 years, but we use up ours way too fast to test this theory.

Little white dishes with brown sugar, honey and jujubes.

11. Sweeteners

We prefer using natural sweeteners like raw organic honey or Chinese red dates (jujubes). You won't be able to stop at just one Chinese tea smoked chicken leg because that sticky honey soy glaze has it all going on. We have also been known to use Chinese red dates in stir fries like in our oyster sauce chicken, Instant Pot Chicken Congee and in desserts like out steamed gingerbread.

Chinese red dates are sweet and packed with iron. However, you can substitute brown sugar, rock or granulated sugar, or a sugar substitute of choice in many of our Asian recipes.

How to Store Sweeteners: Store honey and sugars at room temperature in a cool location, in a sealed container away from the sunlight. Chinese red dates can last up to a year in the pantry but make sure they are sealed tight, so they don't dry out. They can also be refrigerated or frozen for longer storage.

Cornstarch on a wooden table

12. Cornstarch or Potato Starch

We bet you already have this staple in your pantry! Cornstarch or potato starch is essential to thicken Asian sauces and to velvet proteins. For example, our spicy lotus root stir fry uses a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. Velveting meats and other proteins with cornstarch or potato starch coats the exterior to seal in the juices during the cooking process. Learn how to velvet chicken and other proteins in our recipe post for Mandarin orange chicken. You can find cornstarch and even gluten-free versions at any local grocery store.

How to Store Cornstarch or Potato Starch: These ingredients are shelf stable and can be stored at room temperature in a sealed container away from heat and moisture. Check the expiration date but this stuff lasts a very long time.

Lee Kum Lee oyster sauce on the wooden table.

13. Oyster Sauce

If you are looking for "The Magical Sauce" that can take any dish to the next level, it is oyster sauce. The flavor is deep, savory, rich, slightly sweet, and funky at all the same time. Oyster sauce is the star ingredient in our Chinese Eggplant with Garlic sauce and plays a supporting role in recipes like beef noodles with spicy XO sauce.

There are a couple of different types of oyster sauce there is the standard oyster flavored sauce, premium, vegetarian made from mushrooms and gluten free options. You can usually find the standard oyster flavored sauce in the regular grocery store down the international isle. However, you may have to go online or to an Asian market to obtain the other selections.

If you are looking for a vegetarian option without any MSG, we have used the Wan Ja Shan vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce (available on Amazon) for guests that have a shellfish allergy, and it was quite nice.

How to Store Oyster Sauce: Once opened, store oyster sauce in the refrigerator. Follow the expiration date on the bottle to determine when it is time for a new bottle.

Nice to Have Kitchen Staples for Asian Cooking

These Asian kitchen pantry staples are nice to have because these ingredients are used by many different East Asian cuisines.

Spoonful of finely ground white pepper.

1. White Pepper

The food energy of ground white pepper is a warming-hot food according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). White pepper compared to black pepper is spicy but with additional floral notes and has an earthy flavor. It's a delicious addition to any Asian pantry. Enjoy recipes like hot and sour soup, stir fries and literally anything that needs a little pop of heat. You can find white pepper in the regular grocery store down the spice isle. Of course, you can substitute with black pepper, but white pepper is more traditional.

How to Store White Pepper: Please store away from direct sunlight, heat and moisture and it should last you a few year.

Roasted white and black sesame seeds in dishes.

2. Sesame Seeds

We are just smitten about toasted sesame seeds and their delicious nutty flavor and aroma. If you are heavy into Japanese or Korean cuisine, you are going to want to keep either black or white sesame seeds in your pantry. Whether we are whipping up a batch of black sesame nice cream or sprinkling a few toasted sesame seeds over our garlicky stir fried green beans, having sesame seeds in stock is a very good thing.

How to Store Sesame Seeds: Once opened they can be stored in a sealed container in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight for 3 to 4 months. However, they last longer in the refrigerator for up to 6 months and in the freezer up to 2 years. Sesame seeds can go rancid, especially if unroasted.  If they taste bitter or smell odd, throw them out.

A can of unsweetened Thai Kitchen coconut milk on the wooden table.

3. Coconut Milk

Raise your hand if you are a curry lover! They warm you up from the inside out. Rich dairy free coconut curries like halibut coconut curry or Thai pumpkin curry are a must try on a cold blustery day. Regular unsweetened canned coconut milk with just two ingredients coconut and water work best for curries.

Our favorite brand is Arroy-D. Sometimes, it is difficult to find unless you are shopping at an Asian grocery store. We can usually find unsweetened Thai Kitchen brand coconut milk in the regular grocery store either down the baking isle or international isle. Light canned versions and off brand coconut milks with lots of extra ingredients will not work well to crack a curry but can be used in a coconut iced chai tea latte.

How to Store Canned Coconut Milk: Unopened canned coconut milk can last between 2 to 5 years on the shelf. After opened, please transfer any unused coconut milk to a sealed container and place in the refrigerator and use within a week or place in your morning berry smoothie.

Dried shiitake and wood ear mushrooms in dishes with the packages behind.

4. Dried Mushrooms

Bring on the "Shrooms"! Even if all you have in your kitchen is rice and dried mushroom, you can make something amazing with just a couple of other pantry ingredients. One of our favorite is dried shiitake mushrooms.

They have a deep woodsy earthy flavor even more intense than that of fresh mushrooms. Try a few in soups, stir fries, rice paper dumplings, vegan radish cakes and more. If you like a crunchy mushroom for salads or stir fry be sure to check out our post on how to prepare wood ear mushrooms.

Dried mushrooms, especially wood ear mushrooms, you will probably have to purchase at an Asian grocery store or online.

How to Store Dried Mushrooms: Once opened please store in a sealed container away from moisture, heat, and light. Dried mushrooms, such a wood ear mushrooms, should not be soaked for longer than 2 hours. Only reconstitute enough for the dish you are preparing and use them the same day. The reason is that the soaking of mushrooms can cause the proliferation of bacteria and you may get sick. It is best to be safe than sorry.

Dried seaweed sheets (Nori), seaweed snacks and kombu laid on the wooden table.

5. Nori - Gim - Laver - Dried Seaweed

Are you rolling your eyes at the thought of eating seaweed? We think it tastes a little savory, slightly sweet and a bit like the sea. It's packed with umami flavors, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. If your kitchen is Japanese and Korean forward, you are going to want to stock up.

You may want to purchase dried nori sheets for sushi rolls, roasted seaweed snacks for scooping up baked sushi or kombu for soups. In Japan they refer to seaweed as "nori". In Korea they call it "Gim" and in the UK, they call it laver. Seaweed is dark green (almost black) and comes in many different forms depending on what you are using it for. The nori sheets used for rolls are around 7 inches x 8 inches with indents so that it can be cut to size. The darker the sheets the better the grade of nori.

Before living in Japan, we were pretty indifferent to nori (seaweed) but that is before enjoying delicious onigiri, isobeyaki mochi or seaweed sprinkles on our rice. Now, we are hooked.

How to Store Dried Seaweed: Store seaweed in a cool, dark, and dry place inside a sealed container or plastic sealed baggie. Do not place in the refrigerator or freezer as if it gets moist it will get soggy. Many come with the little desiccant packages inside to prevent moisture.

A spoonful of miso paste on a wooden bowl.

6. Miso Paste

Have you ever tried miso soup? Miso paste gives the soup it's rich umami flavor. The paste is savory, sweet and funky from the fermentation process of soybeans, salt and koji. There are four main types of miso paste: white, yellow, red, and mixed.

Miso is delicious in marinades, as pop of flavor in sesame chicken meatballs, sauces, stews, dressings, stir fries, with ramen or even as miso butter. We used yellow miso paste to top our four ingredient baked miso salmon.

How to Store Dried Miso Paste: Store it in the refrigerator to slow down the fermentation process in a sealed container. Refer to the best as date for expiration.

Half of a block of firm tofu in a white bowl.

7. Tofu

Kickup the protein level in your meals with the versatile pantry staple - Tofu. This kitchen ingredient is made from soybeans. One of our favorite foodie excursions is to go to the Kung Wo Beancurd Factory in Sham Sui Po, Hong Kong. Be sure to try the tofu pudding (dou fu faa) or a bowl of fresh warm tofu right from the pot.

As most of you won't have the option of going to the wet market, the next best option for purchasing tofu is right in the refrigerated section of a regular grocery store. There are 3 standard tofu options in a US market: soft, firm, and extra firm. The come in blocks and surrounded by a solution to keep it fresh.  We use firm tofu in our savory vegetable pancakes, shrimp stuffed tofu soup, and mapo tofu.

How to Store Tofu: Store tofu in the refrigerator and use the expiration date on the package. To keep leftover tofu fresh, cover the tofu block with fresh water. Place the leftover tofu in the refrigerator in a covered container and use within 2 to 3 days.  

Hoisin sauce sitting on the table getting ready to make a stir fry.

8. Hoisin Sauce

Last but not least we have sweet and savory sauce that is used a lot in American-Chinese recipes. Made with fermented soybeans, five spice powder, sesame seeds, sugar and more. This one ingredient adds loads of flavors to stir fry recipes.

Try our recipe for Peking beer butt chicken recipe this summer with that sweet sticky sauce that turns dining into a finger licking good experience. Hoisin sauce is usually available in the International section of your regular grocery store.

How to Store Hoisin Sauce: After opening, be sure to store it in the refrigerator where it can generally last 3 to 6 months.

Many essential Asian pantry staples sitting out on a wooden table.

Time to Stock Up!

You can make hundreds of delicious Asian dishes with these Asian kitchen food staples. Many of these can be found at your local grocery store. Other specialty items can be found online. Have you ever tried the online Asian supermarket, Weee?  They have a nice selection of fresh and shelf staple items that can be delivered to you. It's time to stock up so you are ready to make some healthy quick and easy Asian recipes.

Did You Like Our Recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and/or a review in the comments section below. Your feedback is always appreciated! Follow us for more delicious recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for our email list for more free recipes.

East Asian Recipes

Many essential Asian pantry staples sitting out on a wooden table.
Print

Essential Asian Pantry Staples: Your Guide to Cooking

This is a printable shopping list of essential Asian pantry staples to make delicious homecooked Asian recipes.
Course Mains
Cuisine Chinese
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
0 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 50
Author HWC Magazine

Ingredients

13 Essential Asian Pantry Staples

  • rice (Choose Thai jasmine, Japanese sushi rice, long grained rice or glutinous rice)
  • noodles (Choose rice noodles, lo mein, soba, udon, rice vermicelli, glass noodles or even angel hair pasta)
  • soy sauce (Choose traditional light soy sauce for everyday cooking. If you do a lot of Asian cooking add dark soy sauce and/or sweet soy sauce. Gluten free options include coconut amino and tamari)
  • fish sauce (any brand but we like Fish Boat for a gluten free option.)
  • roasted sesame oil (premium is best)
  • cooking wine (Shaoxing wine for Chinese cooking. Mirin or Ashi Mirin for Japanese or Korean cooking. Substitute Asian cooking wines with cooking sherry. )
  • rice vinegar (plain)
  • neutral oil (Your choice - options like avocado oil or other with a high smoke point.)
  • aromatics (fresh garlic, green onions and ginger.)
  • chili garlic sauce (or sriracha sauce)
  • sweetener (honey, jujubes (Chinese red dates), brown sugar or sugar alternative of choice)
  • cornstarch (or potato starch)
  • oyster sauce (Your choice oyster flavored sauce, premium, vegetarian made from mushrooms and gluten free brands)

8 Nice to Have Pantry Ingredients

  • white pepper
  • roasted sesame seeds (white or black)
  • coconut milk (canned unsweetened. We like Arroy-D or choose an option that has the least amount of additives.)
  • dried mushrooms (shiitake or wood ear mushrooms)
  • dried seaweed (also called Nori, Gam, Laver sheets for sushi rolls, roasted seaweed snacks or kombu for soups)
  • miso paste (light for soups, medium, red or mixed. See post above for types and uses.)
  • tofu (soft, firm or extra firm. We use firm for most of our recipes.)

Instructions

  • See in post for 56 unique recipes using these essential Asian Pantry staples.

Video

Notes

This is a basic list of Essential Asian Pantry Ingredients for the home cook. For specific recipes and amounts of each sauce, aromatics or spice, please visit our Asian Cuisine recipes.
  1. Chinese Cuisine
  2. Japanese Cuisine
  3. Philippine Cuisine
  4. Thai Cuisine
  5. Vietnamese Cuisine

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]]> https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/essential-asian-pantry-staples/feed/ 8 Rice Paper Dumplings https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/sweet-potato-green-purses/ https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/sweet-potato-green-purses/#comments Sun, 04 Feb 2024 19:00:00 +0000 http://hwc.pxdev.net/recipe/sweet-potato-green-purses/ Try our ultra crispy gluten-free rice paper dumplings recipe with sweet potatoes and shiitakes. Quick and easy appetizer or vegan dim sum with dipping sauce.

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]]> Bet you can't stop at just one! These irresistible crispy rice paper dumplings are generously stuffed with a flavor packed mixture of sweet potato and shiitake mushrooms. Shaped into purse packets with softened Vietnamese rice paper wrappers and then pan-fried or air fried until crisp and golden.

Serve them up with our zippy homemade dipping sauce for the perfect gluten free and vegan appetizer. Unlike traditional Chinese dim sum, these tasty dumplings with rice paper are ready in a flash.

Gluten-free rice paper dumplings on a white plate with dipping sauce.

Good News! Did you know that dried gluten-free rice paper wrappers can last at least a year in the pantry?  We love keeping a stash on hand to solve problems like what to serve as a halftime snack to last-minute appetizers, or an urgent midnight craving all with this one special ingredient. If you get the last minute munchies, you are just moments away from fresh veggie summer rolls, dumplings, or a Vietnamese crab pizza.

Here at Healthy World Cuisine, we are gearing up for the new year. Quick and easy Chinese New Year recipes, like these rice paper dumplings that can be assembled in advance, are a delightful addition to the festivities. Let's get started!

Ingredients Rice Paper Dumplings

Ingredients to make gluten free and vegan rice paper dumplings laid out on a white table.

Vietnamese Spring Roll Rice Paper Wrapper Sheets - sometimes also called dried spring roll skin, rice paper wrapper or Bánh tráng (or bánh đa nem in Vietnamese). Please do not confuse these rice paper sheets with the wheat-based wrappers used to make savory air fryer spring rolls or sweet banana spring rolls. They are two distinct ingredients.

Most rice paper sheets are naturally gluten free, and plant based made with a combination of rice flour and tapioca flour. These sheets are firm and slightly translucent. If you are celiac, you also want to ensure that the wrappers were made in a gluten certified factory.

Our round non-GMO dried rice sheets were 6.5 inches in diameter and 20 calories per sheet by Star Anise Foods. However, rice papers can range from 6 inches to 14 inches with an average size of 8.5 inches. You can purchase rice paper sheets in the regular grocery stores (usually in the Asian isle), specialty shops, Asian markets and online on platforms like Amazon.

Sweet potatoes - Peeled and grated so they cook quickly. We used sweet potatoes with orange skin and flesh sweet potatoes, but any of the other over 100 varieties of sweet potatoes will work. Originally, we included sweet potato greens in this recipe which are delicious stir fried and in our Thai Pumpkin Curry.

Mushrooms - We chose dried shiitake mushrooms for their rich umami flavor and to keep this rice paper dumping recipe vegetarian. Soaked the dried mushrooms in hot water to soften, then drained, removed the stems and chop. Dried mushrooms offer a more robust flavor and aroma compared to fresh mushrooms. They are extra delicious in Chinese radish cakes and dumplings. Feel free to use either fresh or dried mushrooms. We are all about using whatever you have on hand.

Aromatics - green onions, ginger, and garlic

Gluten free soy sauce - You can use coconut aminos or tamari or regular soy sauce if gluten is not an issue.

Sesame oil - adds a nutty and delicious flavor to balance the overall taste.

Chili Garlic Sauce - for a pop of heat and spice. Alternatively, you can use Sriracha or even red pepper flakes or omit if you are not a spice lover.

Gluten free Dim sum sauce in a white and blue bowl.

Ingredients Dim Sum Sauce

The dipping sauce is optional, but it is so delicious. You are going to want to slather it on everything from homemade Chinese dumplings to beef bao and everything in between. Don't be daunted by the ingredient list; you'll notice many are repetitions from the filling recipe, making it a breeze to prepare. Here's what you'll need:

  • Gluten Free Soy Sauce or coconut aminos or tamari sauce
  • Garlic - but of course, right?
  • Sesame oil
  • Chili garlic oil
  • Honey or alternate sweetener of choice to keep vegan.
  • Rice vinegar or black vinegar if gluten is not an issue.
  • Sesame seeds
  • Green onions

Step By Steps

Make the Vegan Filling

Soaking shiitake mushrooms in hot water and frying up the sweet potato and mushroom dumpling filling.
  • Rehydrate the dried mushrooms in hot water until softened.
  • Grate sweet potatoes and prepare the aromatics.
  • Stir fry the sweet potatoes, mushrooms, aromatics with the sauces and spices.

Fold the Dumplings

Dipping the rice paper wrapper into water and laying it on a wooden cutting board.
  • Dip the rice paper wrappers in water to soften them.
Placing a spoonful of cooked sweet potato and shiitake mushroom filling on the dampened rice paper sheet.
  • Place a dollop of prepared filling onto the center of the softened rice paper.
  • Fold the edges of the rice paper over the filling towards the center.
Folding the rice paper dumpling in on the edges.
  • Roll over rice paper package until you end up with a square dumpling.
Mushroom and sweet potato Dumpling with rice paper shaped into a square purse.
  • Repeat the folding process with a second rice paper wrapper over the first for sturdiness.
Second Vietnamese rice paper sheet folded over dumpling.
  • Place prepared rice paper dumplings on a parchment lined tray.

Pan Fry or Air Fry

Pan Fry: Place a little oil in a non-stick frying pan and cook for approximately 4 minutes on each side until golden brown over medium heat, ensuring the edges are cooked.

Prepared vegan dumplings placed in a frying pan and turned over to show the golden crispy edges.

Air Fry: Preheat air fryer to 400°F (204°C). Brush the prepared gluten free rice paper dumplings with oil on both sides. Air fry dumplings for approximately 14 to 15 minutes turning halfway in between.

Chinese Dipping Sauce

The crispy dumplings are flavorful on their own but become extra delicious with a little zippy dipping sauce. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce (or gluten free alternative), sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, garlic chili sauce, honey, green onions, and toasted sesame seed and stir until combined.

Recipe Tips and Helpful Hints

Sweet Potato and Mushroom Filling:

  1. Dynamic Filling Duo: The combination of naturally sweet potatoes and umami-flavored mushrooms guarantees a delightful filling. However, feel free to experiment with your choice of vegetables or protein. Avoid watery vegetables like tomatoes to maintain the dumplings' crispiness. You'll need approximately 3 to 4 cups of vegetables, mushrooms, or other proteins, depending on the wrapper's size.
  2. Kitchen Cleanup Hack: Utilize leftover vegetables and bits from the refrigerator for a versatile filling. Note that harder vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes require more cooking time, so cook them halfway before adding softer ingredients.
  3. Uniform Chopping: Ensure everything is chopped to the same size for even cooking and to prevent puncturing the delicate rice paper wrapper.

Rice Paper Sheets:

  1. Water Temperature: Dip the rice paper sheets in room temperature water, avoiding soaking to prevent them from falling apart.
  2. Prevent Sticking: Wet the surface before laying the rice paper sheet down to prevent sticking.
  3. Pliability: The rice paper sheets become pliable within 20 to 30 seconds after a quick dip in water.
  4. Folding Technique: Use two scoops of filling to create a square shape for less folding, resulting in crispier dumplings - instead of chewy.
  5. Sturdiness Trick: Wrap the dumplings in two individual sheets of rice paper for added stability during cooking.
  6. Line Tray: Place the wrapped dumplings on a parchment or waxed paper-lined dish or tray to avoid sticking.
A vegan dumpling cut in half to show the sweet potatoes and mushroom filling.

Cooking the Dumplings:

  1. Choice of Oil: Choose a light-flavored oil to complement the delightful Asian flavors.
  2. Avoid Overcrowding: Prevent dumplings made with rice paper from sticking together by avoiding overcrowding in the pan or air fryer.
  3. Pan Frying Technique: Pan fry on medium heat with the folded side down first, as this side requires longer cooking.
  4. Translucent to Opaque: During cooking, observe the rice paper wrapper transition from translucent to opaque, aiming for a light golden-brown color on all sides for the ultimate crispy dim sum treat.
  5. Edges for Crispiness: Pan fry the side edges for the ultimate crispy rice paper dumpling. Check out our video below for a demonstration. Top of Form
Pan fried rice paper dumplings on a white plate with dipping sauce and chopsticks.

Make Ahead

Enjoy the convenience of preparing these gluten free rice paper dumplings in advance to impress your family and guests. Follow these simple steps for successful make-ahead preparation. This process will allow you to assemble the rice paper dumplings up to 24 hours ahead and fry them up when your guests arrive:

Prepare and Spritz: Spritz all sides of the assembled rice paper packets with a light coat of oil. Lay them on a parchment-lined tray, ensuring they are not touching to prevent sticking.

Wrap and Cover: Spritz the side of plastic wrap that will cover the dumplings with oil. Place a sheet of aluminum foil over the entire tray to help the plastic wrap adhere.

Refrigerate the prepared dumplings until you are ready to cook.

How to Store Cooked Dumplings and Reheat?

Pan fried or air fried rice paper dumplings can be stored in the refrigerator covered for up to 3 days. This also includes the dipping sauce. To reheat the sweet potato dumplings…

  • Pan fry - 1 to 2 minutes over medium low heat on both sides or until heated through.
  • Air Fry - at 350°F (170 °C) for approximately 2 minutes on each side or until heated through.
  • Microwave - for approximately 20 to 30 seconds or until heated through. This is our least favorite method as it does not retain its crispiness.
Air fried rice paper dumplings on a wooden plate ready to eat.

What to serve with Dumplings?

You can go wrong with serving gluten free rice paper dumplings with a dim sum sauce to start with and maybe even a rambutan cocktail. You may consider offering a few different Chinese dim sum dishes at your next gathering like steamed scallops with garlic vermicelli, eggplant with garlic sauce or even Chinese New Year Cake.

  • 1 dumpling is just getting your taste buds awake. (smiling)
  • 2 dumplings are an average starter but allow more for big eaters. (Say goodbye to the whole plater if you have hungry teenage boys!)
  • 3 to 4 is a nice main dish with a side of vegetables like stir fried lotus root, garlic pea shoots or stir fried romaine lettuce.

Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ's)

How to Choose the Best Rice Paper Wrappers?

Ingredient Composition: Choose gluten free rice paper sheets with a combination of rice flour and tapioca flour in the ingredient list for enhanced durability.
Visual Inspection: Avoid wrappers that are broken, cracked, or do not lie flat, as these signs may indicate exposure to moisture.
Check Expiration Date: While checking the expiration date is wise, keep in mind that properly stored wrappers last a long time. For example, our wrappers have a shelf life of 2 years from the manufacturing date.

Why Are My Rice Paper Dumplings Chewy?

Rice paper dumplings can become chewy due to insufficient cooking or if the rice paper wrapping is too thick. Address this issue by:
Shaping as a Square: Form your dumplings as a square, not a roll, allowing the rice paper to fold over just once. Adjust the filling amount if needed for proper folding.
Pan Fry Seam Side Down: Begin pan frying with the seam side down, as this side requires more cooking time.
Cooking Side Edges: Ensure you cook the side edges of the rice paper dumpling for optimal crispiness.

How Do You Know When the Rice Paper Dumplings Are Done Cooking?

A perfectly cooked rice paper dumpling has these visual ques.
Color: Lightly golden and toasted on all sides, achieving a crispy texture.
Transparency: The translucent skin of the rice paper wrappers transitions from translucent to a bubbled-up white opaque color and finally to a golden-brown hue.

More Chinese Dim Sum Recipes

Did You Like Our Recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and/or a review in the comments section below. Your feedback is always appreciated! Follow us for more delicious recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for our email list for more free recipes.

Gluten-free rice paper dumplings on a white plate with dipping sauce.
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Gluten Free Rice Paper Dumplings

Try our ultra crispy gluten-free rice paper dumplings recipe with sweet potatoes and shiitake mushrooms. Crowd Pleasing quick and easy appetizer or vegan dim sum with zippy dipping sauce.
Course Appetizers/ Snacks
Cuisine Chinese
Diet Gluten Free, Low Lactose, Vegan, Vegetarian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 12 dumplings
Calories 133kcal
Author HWC Magazine

Equipment

  • frying pan non-stick is preferred
  • food processor or knife

Ingredients

Gluten Free Rice Paper Dumplings

  • 3 ounces dried shiitake mushrooms or approximately 12 dried shiitake mushrooms reconstituted results in about 1 cup after chopped. Stems removed.
  • 1 large sweet potato or 1.5 cups peeled and grated sweet potato
  • ½ cup snow peas chopped or veggie of choice
  • 3 green onions chopped
  • 1 knob ginger fresh grated
  • 3 cloves garlic fresh peeled and chopped finely
  • 1 teaspoon garlic chili sauce or sriracha or to your desired heat level
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce Coconut aminos, tamari or gluten free soy sauce to keep gluten free - to taste
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • salt and pepper we used white pepper - to taste
  • 2 tablespoons oil 1 tablespoon to sauté the vegetable mixture and 1 tablespoon to pan fry or air fry the dumplings.
  • 24 sheets rice paper wrappers Vietnamese - Bánh tráng (gluten-free) - ours were the 6.5 inch diameter size
  • water room temperature in a bowl to dip the rice paper wrappers

Dipping Sauce (Optional)

  • 1 clove garlic peeled and minced
  • 1 green onion chopped
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce Coconut aminos, tamari or gluten free soy sauce to keep gluten free - to taste
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon honey or sweetener of choice like maple syrup or brown sugar to keep Vegan - adjust to your taste preference.
  • sesame seeds white toasted
  • fresh chilis chopped - optional
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Sweet Potato and Shiitake Mushroom Filling

  • Prepare Mushrooms and Vegetables: Soak dehydrated shiitake mushrooms for 15 to 20 minutes in hot water until softened. Remove stems and discard. Peel sweet potato. If you have a food processor, you can place peeled sweet potato chopped into large sections, mushrooms, snow peas and green onions into the food processor together and chop finely in just a minute or two. Alternatively, you can hand grate the sweet potato and chop the other vegetables and aromatics.
  • Over medium heat, place oil in a frying pan and grated ginger, minced garlic and garlic chili sauce. Stir fry until just aromatic.
  • Add the grated or finely minced vegetables into the pan with the ginger, garlic and chili sauce mixture (sweet potato, mushrooms, snow peas, green onions) and soy sauce (or gluten free coconut aminos or tamari sauce), sesame oil and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for approximately 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened. (Cool mixture - we placed the vegetable filling mixture into the refrigerator to expedite the process)

Fold the Dumplings

  • Pour room temperature water into a bowl or plate. Dip one rice paper wrapper in the water quickly to soften it so it is wet on both sides. Do not soak the rice paper wrappers. Wet your fingers and place a little water on your working surface to prevent the rice paper wrapper from sticking. Place the water dipped rice paper wrapper down on the work surface.
  • Place 1 to 2 tablespoons of the cooled vegetable mixture onto the center of the softened rice paper. Fold the the right and left edges of the rice paper over the filling towards the center. Then, fold the bottom edge up over the filing in the center. Finally, Roll over rice paper package until you end up with a square dumpling. Repeat the folding process with a second rice paper wrapper over the first for sturdiness. Place prepared rice paper dumplings on a parchment lined tray. Repeat the process with the remaining rice paper wrappers. (Our rice paper wrappers were the small 6.5 inch diameter size)

Pan Fry or Air Fry

  • Pan Fry: Place a little oil in a non-stick frying pan and cook for approximately 4 minutes on each side until golden brown over medium heat, ensuring the edges are cooked.
  • Air Fry: Preheat air fryer to 400°F (204°C). Brush the prepared gluten free rice paper dumplings with oil on both sides. Air fry dumplings for approximately 14 to 15 minutes turning halfway in between.

Dipping Sauce (Optional)

  • In a small bowl, combine soy sauce (or gluten free alternative), sesame oil, rice vinegar, garlic chili sauce, honey (or sugar alternative of choice to keep vegan), green onions, and toasted sesame seed and stir until combined.

Video

Notes

Recipe Tips and Helpful Hints
Filling:
  1. Dynamic Filling Duo: Feel free to experiment with your choice of vegetables or protein if you are not keen on sweet potato or mushroom. Avoid watery vegetables like tomatoes to maintain the dumplings' crispiness. You'll need approximately 3 to 4 cups of vegetables, mushrooms, or other proteins, depending on the wrapper's size.
  2. Kitchen Cleanup Hack: Utilize leftover vegetables and bits from the refrigerator for a versatile filling. Note that harder vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes require more cooking time, so cook them halfway before adding softer ingredients.
  3. Uniform Chopping: Ensure everything is chopped to the same size for even cooking and to prevent puncturing the delicate rice paper wrapper.
Rice Paper Sheets:
  1. Water Temperature: Dip the rice paper sheets in room temperature water, avoiding soaking to prevent them from falling apart.
  2. Prevent Sticking: Wet the surface before laying the rice paper sheet down to prevent sticking.
  3. Pliability: The rice paper sheets become pliable within 20 to 30 seconds after a quick dip in water.
  4. Folding Technique: Use two scoops of filling to create a square shape for less folding, resulting in crispier dumplings.
  5. Sturdiness Trick: Wrap the dumplings in two individual sheets of rice paper for added stability during cooking.
  6. Line Tray: Place the wrapped dumplings on a parchment or waxed paper-lined dish or tray to avoid sticking.
Cooking the Dumplings:
  1. Choice of Oil: Choose a light-flavored oil to complement the delightful Asian flavors.
  2. Avoid Overcrowding: Prevent dumplings from sticking together by avoiding overcrowding in the pan or air fryer.
  3. Pan Frying Technique: Pan fry on medium heat with the folded side down first, as this side requires longer cooking.
  4. Translucent to Opaque: During cooking, observe the rice paper wrapper transition from translucent to opaque, aiming for a light golden-brown color on all sides for the ultimate crispy dim sum treat.
  5. Edges for Crispiness: Pan fry the side edges for the ultimate crispy rice paper dumpling
How to Store Cooked Dumplings and Reheat?
Pan fried or air fried rice paper dumplings can be stored in the refrigerator covered for up to 3 days. This also includes the dipping sauce. To reheat the dumplings…
  • Pan fry - 1 to 2 minutes over medium low heat on both sides or until heated through.
  • Air Fry - at 350°F (170 °C) for approximately 2 minutes on each side or until heated through.
  • Microwave - for approximately 20 to 30 seconds or until heated through.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 133kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 282mg | Potassium: 255mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 4098IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 1mg

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]]> https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/sweet-potato-green-purses/feed/ 55 Vietnamese Crab Pizza https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/vietnamese-ch%e1%ba%a3-gio-a-long-lost-favorite/ https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/vietnamese-ch%e1%ba%a3-gio-a-long-lost-favorite/#comments Mon, 24 Jul 2023 14:30:00 +0000 http://hwc.pxdev.net/recipe/vietnamese-ch%e1%ba%a3-gio-a-long-lost-favorite/ Grilled Vietnamese Crab Pizza (Bánh Tráng Nướng) is made with gluten-free imitation crab, lime chili mayo on a crispy rice paper crust. Ready in 5 Minutes!

The post Vietnamese Crab Pizza appeared first on Healthy World Cuisine

]]> Say hello to your new favorite rice paper snack! This extra crispy grilled Vietnamese Crab Pizza (also known as bánh tráng nướng) uses a dried rice paper wrapper crust as the base and it's topped with eggs, gluten-free imitation crab, spring onions and a homemade chili crisp. It's outrageously good! Cooks in about 5 minutes making it a quick and easy appetizer, breakfast, lunch or even dinner idea to try tonight!

Crispy grilled Vietnamese pizza sliced and holding a slice.

Bring on the East meets West culinary adventure - introducing the popular Vietnamese pizza recipe! It's grilled to perfection and drizzled with zesty lime mayonnaise for one addictive bite that will have your taste buds longing for more.

Whether you prefer to grill this rice paper pizza on the BBQ or roast on the stovetop, you are going to love making this popular Vietnamese street food at home. We will demonstrate both cooking methods and have included loads of helpful hints.

Jump to:

Vietnamese Street Food

Have you ever been to the bustling streets of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)? It's a food lover paradise complete with street vendors selling fried spring roll (Chả Giò), fresh summer rolls, Banh mi (special local sandwich), beef pho, Vietnamese pizza and much more.

Rice paper pizza is relatively new to the Vietnamese street food scene. It kind of reminds me of an open faced Chả Giò with some of the very same ingredients - just not rolled up. Due to its quick preparation and affordable price, Vietnam pizza has caught on quickly.

This popular street food originated in Da Lat located in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam.  This city has cooler temperate weather, so the toppings are rich, warm, and filling.  Toppings like sausage, minced pork, lots of chilis, dried shrimp, crushed peanuts, butter and even duck blood (yep, we're not too keen on this one).

A Da Lat pizza has a thicker rice paper to hold more toppings and is grilled over the hot coals. Then, the grilled pizzas are folded in half and wrapped in paper for easy portability.

Rice paper pizza cut into wedges and garnished with limes.

Southern Cuisine

Vietnamese Southern dishes are bright, lively, always fresh, and sometimes a little spicy. Did you know Huy Fong garlic chili paste and sriracha sauce was invented by David Tran, a Chinese immigrant from Vietnam? We make our own homemade chili garlic sauce. It adds a little dash of spice to the bright lime mayonnaise topping for the crab pizza. It's a must try.

Much like Thai recipes, Vietnamese cuisine includes the 4 main taste profiles: sweet, sour, savory and spicy for the perfect balance in flavor. Some common southern ingredients include seafood, fish sauce, chilis, fresh herbs, limes, fresh vegetables, thin rice noodles like in our Shrimp Vermicelli Salad and coconut milk.

Our Vietnamese crab pizza utilizes the sturdiness of the Central Vietnamese thicker rice paper wrapper by sticking two sheets together. However, we chose to keep the ingredients light and bright with southern toppings like sweet crab and a lime chili mayo topping. The beauty of bánh tráng nướng recipe is that you can add whatever toppings your little heart desires.

Bánh tráng is dry and held up showing the smooth and rough side of the rice cracker.

What are Bánh Tráng?

Bánh Tráng is the main ingredient for this Vietnamese pizza and rice paper dumplings and is the Vietnamese word for dry edible rice paper wrapper. (Sometimes they are also called rice wafers, rice crepes, spring roll skins, nem wrappers, spring roll wrappers, Vietnamese rice paper or even rice crackers.)

"Nướng" in Vietnamese means to grill. If you put it all together, "bánh tráng nướng" means grilled rice papers. Bánh Tráng are usually purchased in a pack with a lid to protect them as they are very fragile. Easily found in Asian food markets and now in many regular grocery stores.

These spring roll rice paper wrappers are naturally gluten free and are usually made with rice flour. However, some can also be made with tapioca flour. (If you are celiac, there are a few organic certified gluten-free options available on Amazon and in specialty stores)

Rice Paper Pizza Ingredients

Main ingredients to make a Vietnamese pizza on a wooden board.

1) Rice Paper Wrappers (bánh tráng) These spring roll skin wrappers shown above also come in many different sizes, some with sesame seeds and even some square options. We chose the 10.5-inch (26 cm) round option to make crab pizzas.

2) Egg is used as the glue to hold the ingredients in place on the pizza.

3) Imitation crab meat - we used a gluten free brand. However, you can also use freshly cooked real crab meat or other seafood like cooked shrimp chopped finely.

4) Green Onions (scallions, spring onion) - gives that pop of freshness. We also added some fried shallots to give the Vietnamese crab pizza a fun texture contrast.

5) Oil Fried with Aromatics - We've made a homemade chili crisp using a light flavored oil.  This aromatic oil adds extra flavor, crispiness and creates an impermeable layer to prevent moisture from toppings that can make the crust soggy. The chili crisp recipe is included in the recipe below or you can use a store-bought version.

Alternatively, you can cook green onions, garlic and/ or scallions in oil to make it aromatic and skip the chili flakes altogether. Are you feeling extra tired? Just mix a little garlic powder or onion powder and mix it in the oil and call it a day.

Chili Crisp Ingredients

Ingredients to make chili crisp oil laid out on wooden board.
  • Light Flavored Oil
  • Shallots or Onions
  • Green Onions
  • Garlic
  • Dried Red Chili Flakes

Lime Chili Mayonnaise Ingredients

Ingredients to make lime chili mayo laid out on wooden board.
  • Mayonnaise - we love Kewpie brand but use what you have on hand.
  • Garlic Chili Sauce or Sriracha
  • Fish Sauce - if you do not have this product season with salt to taste
  • Lime Zest and Lime Juice

How to Prepare Vietnamese Crab Pizza

Rice paper wrappers cooking on the grill and chili crisp oil added on top.
  • Remove 2 rice paper wrappers from the package. Add a little water with your fingers to the smooth side of one of the wrappers. Gently seal the 2 smooth sides of the wrappers together.
  • Preheat the grill or non-stick pan. Place the prepared double rice paper wrappers on the dry grill or ungreased pan. Press the edges of the rice paper down with a spatula. Cook over medium-low heat until the rice paper starts to turn opaque. Flip over and continue to cook until about 50% opaque.
  • Top the grilled rice paper with a little aromatic oil or chili crisp with the back of a spoon or brush.
Adding the egg and green onion mixture to top of grilled rice paper.
  • Add the beaten egg, green onion, and salt mixture on top of the oiled rice paper. Spread out to the edges.
Topping the grilled Vietnamese pizzas with crab meat and fried shallots.
  • Next, add a couple tablespoons of finely chopped crab and fried shallots if desired.
  • Top with lime chili mayonnaise and enjoy.
Topping Vietnamese crab pizza with lime chili mayonnaise sauce.

Variations and Topping Ideas

The topping ideas for Vietnamese pizza are numerous. The only restraint is what you have in your refrigerator or pantry. However, if you overload your pizza with too many toppings, it can make it soggy. The basic rule is to think about the best ways to balance the flavor. Include savory, sweet, sour, and possibly spicy elements to make the best bánh tráng nướng.

What Toppings Do You Like?

  • Cooked ground pork sausage, spam, ham, thinly sliced Vietnamese sausages (Chả Lụa) or pork floss (light a fluffy cooked pork that has the texture of cotton)
  • Canned tuna or salmon
  • Shrimp, fish, scallops, or crab that are precooked and minced finely.
  • Veggies that are not soggy! Yep, even corn - commonly seen on any Asian pizza or savory shrimp pancakes.
  • Crushed Peanuts
  • Cheese - After all, this is an Asian Fusion recipe - Eat what you enjoy.
  • Stir fried mushrooms finely minced.
  • Quail eggs
  • Sesame Seeds
  • Fresh herbs like Thai basil or mint
  • Fried Shallots
  • Crisp arugula (rocket) or chopped lettuces to be added at the very end of the cooking process.
  • Mayonnaise and/or Sriracha sauce
Bánh tráng nướng folden in half like a Vietnamese quesadilla to eat.

How to Serve

Did you know that you can serve this rice paper snack like a regular pizza or a quesadilla?

If you want to serve up like regular pizza, we have the best luck cutting wedges out with a pair of culinary scissors. You can also cut them with a sharp knife.  However, because these little crab pizzas are so crispy, they can break.

If you prefer to eat it on the go, just fold over into a Vietnamese quesadilla and serve. Add a refreshing rambutan cocktail for a fun weekend culinary experience.

Taking a slice of Bánh Tráng Nướng topped with crab.

Common Problems: How to Solve

We always say the first Vietnamese Crab Pizza off the grill is for the cook. This recipe is simple but of course there will be some small mishaps until you get the knack of preparing your first one. We tested this recipe doing all kinds of bad things you should never do just so you don't have to repeat those same mistakes.

  • Don't overload the pizza. They will get soggy.
  • Cook over medium-low heat. It takes at least 3 minutes for the pizzas to start to turn from translucent to opaque. Be patient!
  • Even though it may seem like a good idea, don't grease your pan or grill. Stuff will stick and burn.
  • Don't put the toppings on the pizza until they are at least 50% percent opaque. Your toppings will start to get overly brown, but it will still be undercooked and chewy.
  • If you are a newbie with rice paper pizzas, practice first in a skillet before moving on to the BBQ or gas grill. More skill is required because grills do not cook evenly, and you must be quick. However, we prefer the chargrilled flavor to the skillet method-hands down.
  • Best outcomes with using non-stick pan. Iron skillets hold the temperature too much and greater chance for burning and cracking of crust.
  • Keep the dried rice paper wrappers away from your drinks or beverages. Spilling water or your gin and tonic on them will quickly make them into a pliable wrapper perfect for spring rolls that taste like gin - not good! 
  • If cooking on the grill, keep it moving and adjusting the location to indirect heat as this pizza can and will catch on fire! Things can get exciting.
A bite taken out of a crab pizza that is folded in half.

Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ's)

Why is my Vietnamese pizza soggy?

If you overload the Vietnamese pizza with too many toppings, it can become soggy. For crispiest pizza, eat it straight away after cooking. They will become soggy after sitting or if placed in the refrigerator.

Why is my Vietnamese pizza chewy and not crispy?

Unfortunately, the pizza was not cooked long enough. You will know when the Vietnamese pizza is cooked because it will turn from a translucent color to opaque. To achieve a crispy texture, cook over a medium-low heat so the rice paper pizza does not burn before it is done cooking.

Why is my rice paper wrapper cracking?

The heat may be too high. Be sure to cook the rice paper pizza over a medium low heat for the best results. If you are cooking on a grill, use indirect heat. Using a spatula or tongs, carefully move the pizza to different areas so that all sides of the pizza cook evenly.

In addition, the timing of adding your topping is important. If your rice paper is too dry and hot, it will crack. Once the rice cracker is about 50% opaque, start getting those toppings on, starting with your chili crisp oil and egg mixture.

How to reheat a Vietnamese pizza?

Reheat Vietnamese pizzas in a non-stick pan or on the grill over medium-low heat until the toppings are warmed, and it starts to sizzle - about 2 to 3 minutes. Alternatively, you can reheat in a preheated air fryer at 350°F (175°C) for approximately 3 to 5 minutes. Keep a close eye on them so they do not burn.  Do not reheat in the microwave as this will make them soggy.

More Crab Recipes

Crispy grilled Vietnamese pizza sliced and holding a slice.
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Vietnamese Crab Pizza

Grilled Vietnamese Crab Pizza (Bánh Tráng Nướng) is made with gluten-free imitation crab, lime chili mayo on a crispy rice paper crust. Ready in 5 Minutes!
Course Appetizers/ Snacks, Breakfast and Brunch
Cuisine Vietnamese
Diet Gluten Free, Low Lactose
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 4 pizzas
Calories 91kcal
Author HWC Magazine

Equipment

  • non-stick pan or grill can cook on either the stovetop or grill
  • tongs or spatula to turn pizza
  • culinary kitchen scissors to cut the pizza

Ingredients

Vietnamese Crab Pizza - 4 servings

  • 8 whole rice paper wrappers dry Vietnamese spring roll wrappers - gluten free options available
  • 6 ounces imitation crab meat gluten-free options if needed minced finely
  • 4 whole eggs beaten
  • salt to taste
  • 4 whole green onions sliced
  • ⅓ cup fried shallots optional
  • chili crisp oil recipe below (oil fried with aromatics) or can use store bought.
  • lime chili mayonnaise recipe below (optional)

Chili Crisp Oil (Oil Fried with Aromatics) - or can use store bought

  • ½ cup oil light flavored
  • ½ cup shallots or onions chopped
  • ⅓ cup green onions sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves peeled and minced
  • 2 - 3 tablespoons red chili flakes optional

Lime Chili Mayonnaise (optional)

  • ½ cup mayonnaise we love Kewpie brand but use what you have on hand
  • 1 - 1.5 tablespoons chili garlic sauce or sriracha
  • 1 tablespoon lime zest zest from 1 lime
  • 1 teaspoon lime juice fresh

Instructions

Make Chili Crisp Oil - skip step if using store bought

  • You can make this flavored aromatic crisp oil with or without the chili flakes. If you like a little spice, place dried chili flakes into a heat resistant bowl. On the other hand, if you just want a flavorful and aromatic oil skip the chili.
  • Put oil in a small pan and increase to medium- high heat. Add the onions and sauté until translucent. Then, add the green onions and give it a quick stir. Lastly, add the fresh garlic for one quick stir and remove from heat. Immediately pour the hot oil over the chili flakes for spicy or into another heat save empty bowl for not spicy. Stir and set aside.

Make Lime Chili Mayonnaise - optional but so good!

  • Place mayonnaise, chili garlic sauce or sriracha sauce, lime zest and lime juice into a medium bowl and stir. Set aside

Prepare Egg and Green Onion Mixture

  • Add eggs to bowl and beat. Add salt to taste and green onions and stir. You will use approximately 1 egg for each of the 4 Vietnamese pizzas. Set aside

Vietnamese Crab Pizza (pan fried or grilled)

  • Remove 2 rice paper wrappers from the package. Add a little water with your fingers to the smooth side of one of the wrappers. Gently seal the 2 smooth sides of the wrappers together.
  • Preheat non-stick pan or grill. Place the prepared double rice paper wrappers on the dry grill or ungreased pan. Press the edges of the rice paper down with a spatula. Cook over medium-low heat until the rice paper starts to turn opaque. Flip over and continue to cook until about 50% opaque. (If grilling, place rice paper pizza in an area with indirect flames. Keep moving the pizza gently with tongs or a spatula so that it cooks evenly.) Watch the video demonstrating both cooking methods. .
  • Top the grilled rice paper with a little aromatic oil or chili crisp with the back of a spoon or brush.
  • Add the beaten egg, green onion, and salt mixture on top of the oiled rice paper. Spread out to the edges. You will use approximately 1 egg for each crab pizza.
  • Next, add a couple tablespoons of finely chopped crab and fried shallots if desired.
  • Top with lime chili mayonnaise, if desired. Repeat process with the other 3 pizzas. To serve, you can eat like a pizza and cut into wedges with kitchen scissors. To eat it on the go, fold over like a quesadilla and enjoy!

Video

Notes

How to Store:
Vietnamese pizzas  are best served right after cooking when they are crispy. However, they can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. 
How to reheat a Vietnamese pizza?
Reheat Vietnamese pizzas in a non-stick pan or on the grill over medium-low heat until the toppings are warmed, and it starts to sizzle – about 2 to 3 minutes. Alternatively, you can reheat in a preheated air fryer at 350°F (175°C) for approximately 3 to 5 minutes. Keep a close eye on them so they do not burn.  Do not reheat in the microwave as this will make them soggy.
Recipe Tips:
  • Don't overload the pizza. They will get soggy.
  • Cook over medium-low heat. It takes at least 3 minutes for the pizzas to start to turn from translucent to opaque. Be patient!
  • Even though it may seem like a good idea, don't grease your pan or grill. Stuff will stick and burn.
  • Don't put the toppings on the pizza until they are at least 50% percent opaque. Your toppings will start to get overly brown, but it will still be undercooked and chewy.
  • If you are a newbie with rice paper pizzas, practice first in a skillet before moving on to the BBQ or gas grill. More skill is required because grills do not cook evenly, and you must be quick. We prefer the chargrilled flavor to the skillet method-hands down.
  • Best outcomes with using non-stick pan. Iron skillets hold the temperature too much and greater chance for burning and cracking of crust.
  • Keep the dried rice paper wrappers away from liquids.
  • If cooking on the grill, keep it moving and adjusting the location to indirect heat as this pizza can and will catch on fire! Things can get exciting.

Nutrition

Serving: 1pizza | Calories: 91kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 0.1g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.03g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.04g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 252mg | Potassium: 6mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 16IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 2mg | Iron: 0.1mg

The post Vietnamese Crab Pizza appeared first on Healthy World Cuisine

]]> https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/vietnamese-ch%e1%ba%a3-gio-a-long-lost-favorite/feed/ 65 Gluten Free Pho Bo (Quick Beef Pho Recipe) https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/easy-beef-pho-with-oodles-of-noodles/ https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/easy-beef-pho-with-oodles-of-noodles/#comments Fri, 17 Sep 2021 12:30:00 +0000 http://hwc.pxdev.net/recipe/easy-beef-pho-with-oodles-of-noodles/ This homemade quick nourishing bowl of Vietnamese gluten free Pho Bo (beef pho) soup can be on your dinner table in 30 minutes or less.

The post Gluten Free Pho Bo (Quick Beef Pho Recipe) appeared first on Healthy World Cuisine

]]> Slurping and sipping on a nourishing bowl of Vietnamese gluten free Phở Bò (beef pho) is almost better than getting a hug from your mom. This quick beef pho soup can be on your dinner table in 30 minutes or less. Really!? Topped with loads of fresh herbs, thin sliced beef, bean sprouts and chilis - a delicious way to transition from one season to another.

Quick beef pho in a green bowl with a spoonful of soup and lots of fresh herbs.
Jump to:

Time Saving

Traditionally, making pho broth from scratch takes hours on your stove top while you roast the beef bones and then simmer with aromatics, and spices. Of course, you can try to speed up this process in the instant pot (pressure cooker), but you might end up waiting at least 30 minutes just for your device to heat up.

Our easy stove top method takes only 20 minutes to simmer using store bought beef stock or bone broth. You won't believe how flavorful this broth gets. Then, just a couple of minutes to plate up and dinner is served.

In addition, our beef pho recipe is gluten-free just like our Chinese Beef Noodle Soup Recipe. This is especially important if you are trying to heal your gut and boost your immunity around the cold and flu season.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Beef pho ingredients laid out on the table and labeled.

Bone Broth or Stock - There are so many delicious gluten-free beef broths on the market to choose from. This is a huge time saver!  When the weather starts to cool off, we always make a huge batch of our homemade Nourishing Slow Simmered Beef Bone Broth and freeze it.

Not only is bone broth nourishing but it can help heal a leaky gut. The collagen in bone broth can help boost your immunity by improving your gut health. You can choose any of these in this recipe. Please note though, if you choose a bone stock or bone broth without any added sodium, you may need to season a little more with salt or fish sauce to taste.

Fish sauce - We used Red Boat gluten-free fish sauce. If you are not sensitive to gluten, then you can use your favorite brand of fish sauce.

Spices - Whole spices like cinnamon and star anise are traditional in this gluten free pho recipe. Cloves are also another traditional ingredient. We did not add any cloves based on our flavor preference. Of course, you can substitute with dried ground spices. Hint: 5 Spice powder is a good alternative for whole star anise, if you have difficulty finding this ingredient.

Cinnamon and star anise are warming herbs that can benefit your spleen. If you would like to learn more about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), please read our articles Introducing the Five Energies of Food and Feed Your Spleen: Nourish your Body

Aromatics - onions, garlic and ginger are delicious in this recipe. We like fresh but of course you can add dried ground aromatics, if that is what you have on hand.

Gluten-free rice noodles - Pad Thai noodles or a medium rice noodle work great in this recipe. If you do not have a gluten sensitivity, you can exchange with cooked ramen or whatever your little heart desires.  If you are trying to watch your carbs, add in a few zucchini zoodles (noodles).

Beef - Another time saver is having your butcher cut up the beef super thin or buy chipped beef. If this option is not available, sukiyaki beef works great, or you can slice your own beef super thin.

Toppings - This is where you can get creative and use what you have on hand. We love fresh herbs like cilantro, basil, and mint. Sprouted mung beans (bean Sprouts), sliced green onions and chilis are always a huge hit with our family. You can really add anything you like. Other ideas are thin mandolin sliced carrots and spinach.

How to Make Flavorful Broth

You won't believe how flavorful this simple pho broth becomes in just 20 minutes of simmering.

Here are the basic steps…

Cooking aromatics and adding brown sugar to pot.
  • Sauté onions, ginger, and garlic on high to get a nice char. Add in brown sugar or sugar alternative to accelerate the charring process.
Beef stock, dried spices and fish sauce added to soup.
  • Add store bought gluten-free beef broth or homemade bone broth, cinnamon, Star anise and gluten-free fish sauce and simmer for 20 minutes
Removing aromatics from soup and pour shot of the gluten free pho broth.
  • Remove aromatics and dried spices. Now you have a rich beef pho broth ready to serve.

Assembly Process

While your pho broth is simmering away, prepare all your additions and toppings.

  • Add hot water to rice noodles to soften
  • Wash fresh herbs like mint, cilantro, green onions, and basil to add to pho soup.
  • Soak and wash bean sprouts well and drain.
  • Cut up fresh limes

Order of Operations

Do you like fun interactive meals like our Spicy Sichuan Hot Pot, Simple Spicy Thai Hot Pot or our Middle Eastern Party Feast? We certainly do! Place all your gluten-free pho ingredients out on the table. If you have a portable cook top, you can keep the broth simmering away right at the table. The pho broth must be piping hot so when you pour it over the super thin sliced beef, it cooks the beef.

No portable cooktop? No problem! Just set out all the ingredients on the counter right next to the stovetop. Family and friends can assemble their own Asian pho just the way they like it - buffet style.

All pho bo ingredients to garnish around a bowl of cooked rice noodles.
  • Put rice noodles in a bowl.
Chipped beef over noodles and beef pho broth poured over beef and noodles.
  • Add chipped beef or super thin sliced beef on top of the noodles.
  • Pour your delicious pho beef broth over the noodles.
Garnishing quick pho soup with beans sprouts and fresh herbs.
  • Garnish your personal phở bò with all your favorite toppings like bean sprouts, fresh herbs, and chili peppers.
  • Stir up so that the hot Vietnamese broth cooks the thin beef and enjoy!

Variations

The best part of this quick and easy gluten free pho is that it is easily customizable to fit your diet needs.

  • Want to make it low carb? Try adding zucchini noodles or other spiralized vegetables.
  • Vegan changes include using a vegetable broth instead of beef broth. Try adding shiitake mushrooms instead of beef and or firm tofu. There are also many vegan fish sauce alternatives on the market. Ocean's Halo fish sauce is vegan, soy free and gluten free.
  • Have leftover Savory Herb Roasted Whole Chicken? Try adding chicken broth and slices of chicken instead of beef and beef stock.
  • Add quick cooking greens like spinach and bok choy.

Side dishes

Gluten free Pho Bo is delicious all on its own. However, our Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce and Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad our some of our favorite starters. If it's the weekend, be sure to start out with a refreshing Tropical Fruit Rambutan Cocktail to get the party started.

Gluten free rice noodles in chopsticks with a spoonful of broth underneath.

Storage

Leftover Pho broth and raw thin slices of beef can be stored separately in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for 2 months. Fresh veggies and herbs and such can be stored in the refrigerator, about 7 days.

However, the cooked rice noodles need to be pitched, if not used within 24 hours. The reason we say this is we had the worst food poisoning in our life ever after eating cooked rice noodles. Who knows if it was the noodles or maybe it was the Hong Kong water?  However, it is better to be safe than sorry.

Frequent Asked Question (FAQ's)

How to store fresh bean sprouts?

First and foremost, you must rinse and wash your fresh bean sprouts (sprouted mung beans) well. Next, place your bean sprouts in a plastic container with a lid and fill with cool water to cover the bean sprouts. Change the water daily with fresh cool water. Bean sprouts are living and need water. If stored properly, they can last at least 7 days in the refrigerator.

What is the difference between broth and stock? Beef stock is made from beef meat and some of the bones, and aromatic vegetables. Beef bone broth is made from roasted beef bones and aromatic vegetables.

How to cut thin slices of raw beef?

If you cannot purchase thin chipped beef or sukiyaki beef at the market, cut up your own. Our favorite beef cuts for pho are sirloin steak, round eye, or even filet mignon. Grab your favorited honed (sharpened) knife!

To make your life easier, freeze the beef in a baggie or plastic wrap for about ½ hour before attempting to slice. This makes the slicing process easier. Then, cut the beef super then against the grain. Cut it so thin that you can almost see through it. Making sure you have super thin slices of beef ensures that the broth can cook it while it is in your soup bowl. In addition, it ensures the beef will be tender.

More Delicious Soup Recipes

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Quick beef pho in a green bowl with a spoonful of soup and lots of fresh herbs.
Print

Gluten Free Pho Bo (Quick Beef Pho Recipe)

Slurping and sipping on a nourishing bowl of Vietnamese gluten free Phở Bò (beef pho) is almost better than getting a hug from your mom. Topped with loads of fresh herbs, thin sliced beef, bean sprouts and chilis - a delicious way to transition from one season to another.
Course Mains
Cuisine Vietnamese
Diet Gluten Free
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4 bowls
Calories 658kcal
Author HWC Magazine

Equipment

  • soup pot

Ingredients

Gluten-Free Pho Broth

  • 1 tablespoon oil for frying aromatics
  • 1 large onion peeled and sliced
  • 1.5 inches ginger (peeled and sliced) fresh or ½ teaspoon dried ground ginger.
  • 4 cloves garlic fresh (bashed on counter to release flavor and remove peel) or 2 teaspoons dried ground garlic powder
  • 2 tablespoon brown sugar (or to taste-can use sugar substitute of choice if diabetic)
  • 8 cups beef broth Can use either beef stock or bone broth. We used our homemade beef broth that was salted to taste. Use a gluten-free stock if sensitive to gluten.
  • 5 whole star anise if you cannot find can substitute with 1.5 teaspoons ground 5 spiced powder.
  • 3 twills cinnamon or 1.5 teaspoon dried ground ginger
  • ⅓ cup fish sauce or to taste. If using a bone broth that has no added salt, increase amount of fish sauce or salt to taste. We used a gluten free fish sauce.

Soup Ingredients

  • 250 grams rice noodles (or 1-2 of the rice noodle loops) Gluten free Pad Thai noodles works well in this recipe.
  • 1 pound beef Sliced super thin. We used chipped beef and sukiyaki also works well. You can use other cuts of tender beef and cut very thin against the grain of the meat.

Garnishes

  • 1 cup bean sprouts also known as mung bean sprouts - optional garnish
  • ½ cup cilantro roughly chopped (can also use mint, basil, etc.)-optional garnish
  • ⅓ cup green onions sliced - optional garnish
  • 2 chili peppers garnish (optional)
  • 1 lime cut into quarters
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Add oil to pan. Over medium high heat, add fresh sliced onions, ginger and garlic until you get a nice brown sear. Add brown sugar or sugar alternative of choice to pan to enhance the charring process. (If using dried ground spices, add these spices AFTER the beef broth is in the pot.)
  • Add beef broth or stock to soup pot. Then add star anise, cinnamon and fish sauce.
  • Bring to soup to a boil. Turn down heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. (Make sure it is covered so you do not loose all that delicious broth due to evaporation) Taste and adjust seasoning. (If you have used a salt free broth or stock, you will need to add more fish sauce or salt to taste.)
    Please note that if you leave your broth simmer for longer than 20 minutes, evaporation may occur. Just add a little more water or broth and adjust seasonings.
  • After the pho broth has simmered for 20 minutes, remove the aromatics and whole spices. Skim the soup.
  • Place rice noodles in a bowl, cover noodles with boiling water just enough to cover. Soak noodles for about 2-8 minutes depending on the size and manufacturer of noodles. Noodles should be cooked just until tender, al dente. Rice noodles with cool water and drain and set aside.
  • We purchased chipped beef from the market. However, you can also buy sukiyaki beef. If you are unable to find chipped beef or sukiyaki beef then use a tender cut of beef such as a filet mignon or if that is not in your budget try eye round, flank, bottom roast, London broil, just remember to cut the beef super thin and against the grain.)
    Just a quick hint: freeze your beef just until it is slightly firm and then it is much easier to cut super thin.
  • Wash and prepare your bean sprouts, cilantro (mint, basil) green onions, chili peppers, and limes and set aside.
    Just a quick hint:  If you wash your bean sprouts and keep them in a plastic container with a lid full of water and store in the refrigerator they will last much longer.  I change my water every day. Beans sprouts normally live in water so if you keep them water they will stay fresher longer.
  • Assembly: 
    Bring your beef broth back up to a boil.
    Place 4 soup bowls on the counter.
    Lay a handful of cooked/soaked rice noodles into each bowl. (You may have some left over noodles it just depends on the size of your bowls)
    Divide the chipped or thinly sliced beef among 4 bowls and lay on top of noodles.
    Carefully ladle your steeping hot gluten free beef pho broth into each bowl covering the beef and noodles completely.
    Garnish your quick beef pho with bean sprouts (sprouted mung beans), cilantro, (Mint, basil) green onion, chili peppers on top of your Asian pho.
    Squeeze a little lime juice on top. Stir to allow the beef to evenly cook in the soup bowl with the hot broth and enjoy.

Video

Notes

If you simmer your pho soup broth longer than 20 minutes, evaporation will occur. You may need to add more beef broth or bone broth or water and adjust seasonings as desired. 
Variations
  • Want to make it low carb? Try adding zucchini noodles or other spiralized vegetables.
  • Vegan changes include using a vegetable broth instead of beef broth. Try adding shiitake mushrooms instead of beef and or firm tofu. There are also many vegan fish sauce alternatives on the market. Ocean's Halo fish sauce is vegan, soy free and gluten free.
  • Have leftover Savory Herb Roasted Whole Chicken? Try adding chicken broth and slices of chicken instead of beef and beef stock.
  • Add quick cooking greens like spinach and bok choy.
Storage
Leftover Pho broth and raw thin slices of beef can be stored separately in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for 2 months. Fresh veggies and herbs and such can be stored in the refrigerator, about 7 days.
However, the cooked rice noodles need to be pitched, if not used within 24 hours.  It is better to be safe than sorry. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 658kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 81mg | Sodium: 2595mg | Potassium: 1533mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 308IU | Vitamin C: 15mg | Calcium: 86mg | Iron: 4mg

The post Gluten Free Pho Bo (Quick Beef Pho Recipe) appeared first on Healthy World Cuisine

]]> https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/easy-beef-pho-with-oodles-of-noodles/feed/ 85 Tropical Fruit Rambutan Cocktail https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/tropical-fruit-rambutan-cocktail/ https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/tropical-fruit-rambutan-cocktail/#comments Fri, 28 Aug 2020 12:20:12 +0000 https://www.hwcmagazine.com/?p=22617 Delicately sweet, sour and slightly floral Tropical Fruit Rambutan Cocktail is perfect for summer sipping and an easy mocktail recipe.

The post Tropical Fruit Rambutan Cocktail appeared first on Healthy World Cuisine

]]> Start chilling your martini glasses!  Our delicately sweet, sour and slightly floral Tropical Fruit Rambutan Cocktail is perfect for summer sipping and we have an easy mocktail (non-alcoholic) recipe for the kids.

Icy cold Tropical Fruit Rambutan Cocktail in a martini glass with a bowl of fresh rambutans in a wooden bowl.

Juicy sweet rambutan juice with a splash of vodka and sparkling water is the 3-ingredient cocktail with an attitude. Once you give this cocktail recipe a try, you will wonder why you waited so long to find this fun vodka martini. It's Rambutan Season twice a year from July to late August and again in December and January. Let's get this party started!

Jump to:

Tropical Cocktail Recipe

Sophisticated

Unique

Exotic

Tropical

Can be made with fresh or canned rambutans

Slightly sweet and floral

Crisp

And not too sweet

Vodka martini getting poured into a martini glass and rambutans around the table.

Summer Cocktail with Vodka!

This rambutan drink recipe is for you. When the heat index soars, there is nothing like a cool and refreshing summer cocktail with vodka to cool you down. Let's get that shaker going right now to get it snow flaky cold. You deserve it!

Large wooden bowl filled with fresh rambutan fruits and one is opened to show the snowy white fruit inside.

What is a Rambutan?

The Rambutan is a tropical exotic fruit that grows in Southeast Asia and Hawaii too. This fruit is closely related to the lychee and longan and is warming in nature. Be sure to check out our post, Introducing the Five Energies of Food, to learn more about the warming and cooling nature of foods.

This little (3-6 cm) oval red fruit has little green hairs protruding from it.  Some breeds of rambutan have yellow hairs. There are some breeds that have a yellow fruit with pink and yellow hair.  

She is quite funky looking, don't you think?  Don't let her scary hair disguise fool you. This exotic fruit is super sweet and tropical in flavor.

Did you know that the Malay word Rambutan means hair? Actually, these little hairs are very messy and frizzy like our hair on a super humid day. (smiling) The Vietnamese call this really bad hair day of the rambutan, "chôm chôm".  

Close up shot of Rambutan showing all the little green hairy like protrusions.

What Does Rambutan Taste Like?

We think rambutan tastes cross between a grape and a pear.

If you compared a rambutan to a lychee, we would say that they are both taste a little sweet and a little sour like a grape. However, the rambutan has more of the sour notes and we like that a lot. A lychee is more floral in taste compared to the rambutan.

The texture of the internal flesh of the rambutan and lychee is similar to a peeled grape. Rambutan fruit inside is actually slightly smaller in size compared to a lychee. The one major distinctive feature between a lychee and a rambutan is their outer appearance.

Lychee fruit has no outer hair. Instead, the lychee has a bumpy outer surface that looks like little flat bubbles. The rambutan fruit has wispy looking "Bad Hair Day" on the outer shell.

Rambutan fruit cut in half showing the white fruit inside.

How to Eat Rambutan?

  1. Always wash fruit first before eating
  2. Hold the rambutan in both of your hands and either your two thumbs to just cut through the center skin and then peel apart. Alternatively, place your rambutan on a cutting board. Then, slice with a knife only through the skin to get it started. Finally, peel apart with your hands.
  3. This will reveal the snowy white interior sweet flesh of the rambutan. Remove the outer hairy peel. (Check out our video in the recipe card below)
  4. Next, you must remove the internal seed from the rambutan as these are toxic. Do not eat the seeds.
  5. You will notice that there is an inner shell lining inside of the flesh of the rambutan, between the seed and the flesh. This is safe and okay to eat. Don't try to remove it as we will be straining your Tropical Fruit Rambutan Cocktail after we puree it.
Rambutan peeled and cut in half showing the pit and the outer beige skin of the peel. The little bit of the skin of the pit that is left behind is okay to eat.

Keeping the Sweet in Check

Do you like your drinks dry or sweet? The best part about this cocktail you can make it either way by balancing the ingredients to your desired effect.

  • If you like your cocktails only delicately sweet, do not add any simple syrup. The natural sweetness of the fresh rambutans are perfect as they are a little sweet and slightly sour.
  • On the other hand, if you want your beverage sourer, add a little spritz of fresh lemon juice to taste.
  • Like your drinks sweet? You can either...

Option 1: Use canned rambutans in syrup instead of fresh. Add a little of the canned syrup to your desired sweetness.

Option 2: Make yourself a little simple syrup. Add equal amounts of sugar (or sugar alternative of choice) and water to a pot and slowly heat until all the sugar (or sugar alternative of choice) is melted and incorporated. Add a little cooled simple syrup to taste to your drink.

Step by step hoe to make a tropical cocktail drink.

How to Make a Cocktail?

  1. Chill martini or cocktail glasses.
  2. Peel and remove the pit from the rambutans or use canned rambutans. If you can't find rambutans, you can certainly substitute with lychee fruit instead.
  3. Use a food processor, blender or even a mortar and pestle to mash the rambutan fruit.
  4. In a cocktail shaker add vodka (hold for the kiddy mocktail), ice and mashed rambutan fruit. (if desired you can add either simple syrup or juice from canned rambutans to sweeten.) Shake well.
  5. Strain Tropical Fruit Rambutan cocktail through the strainer and into your chilled glass. Top with a little sparkling water and give it a little stir.
  6. Enjoy!
Snow flaky cold Rambutan Cocktail in a martini glass with a bowl of fresh rambutans in a wooden bowl.

Fun Appetizers with Cocktails

The perfect night is a Tropical Fruit Rambutan Cocktail in one hand and a Vietnamese pizza in the other. Let's have a tropical Asian themed night.  For a delicious cocktail and appetizer pairing, be sure to try our Easy Mango Salsa and tortilla chips, Summer Rolls with Chili Lime Dipping Sauce, Firecracker Grilled Shrimp or our Thai Firecracker Shrimp Party Appetizer.

Kid Friendly Tropical Mocktail

With everyone home together all the time, don't forget about the kiddos. You can make an alcohol free fizzy rambutan mocktail for the kids in the group too. Just hold the vodka and add a little more sparking water and they can enjoy a delicious rambutan juice with the group.

Keeping it "Healthyish"

One serving of vodka has about 96 calories and is less in carbohydrates compared to other spirits. Using fresh rambutan has less carbohydrates compared to using canned with syrup.  We enjoyed our delicious Tropical Fruit Rambutan Cocktail with no added sugar, just the natural sweetness from the fresh fruit.

We always say everything in moderation is the key to success. This vodka martini recipe is vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free.

You may be asking, are Rambutans good for you? According to the NIH, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects of rambutan, including diabetic management has been studied with very promising results.

However, pregnant moms should avoid the over ripe rambutan as they have higher sugar content and this higher sugar content can convert to alcohol.

super close up shot of a hairy rambutan.

Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ's)

How to pick a Fresh Ripe Rambutan?

In the perfect world, you want your rambutan to be bright red with nice green hairs protruding for the perfect ripe rambutan.
They should smell sweet and never sour. The interior fruit should be firm and not mushy.

Just like in our post How to Cut a Pineapple, rambutan fruits do not ripen after harvest. So, pick a good batch to start with.

If you see dark brown rambutan with dark brittle hairs that are all falling off, these are overly ripe. Can you still eat these?  Yes, you can. However, when they get overly ripe, they form excess sugars. These excess sugars can ferment into alcohol.

Where can you buy rambutans?

You can purchase these fresh tropical fruits from Asian Markets and even on Amazon from the fresh market. Lucky you, if you live in Hawaii, as you can find them at the local markets.

Alternatively, you can also buy Rambutan fruit canned. Aroy-D has rambutan in syrup in 20 oz (565 g) cans. The canned version you can find at Asian markets and online as well. If you like your cocktails sweeter, you may prefer the canned option as you can use the syrup that the fruit came in to sweeten your drink. In addition, the canned ones already have the pit removed.

How to Store Rambutan?

Rambutan are always best eaten fresh. They can be stored at room temperature only for a day or 2 at most. Then, they must be stored in the refrigerator in a bag with perforated holes so that it can breathe. You can also peel, pit and store them in a freezer safe container in the freezer as they make fantastic Red White and Blue Healthy Sorbets for up to 2 months.

More Cocktails and Mocktails

Huang Pi Martini

Blood Orange Ginger Spritz

Blue Elephant Chili Cocktail

Summertime Non-Alcoholic Fruity Drink Recipes

Boozy Berry Ice Pops

Did You Like Our Recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and/or a review in the comments section below. Your feedback is always appreciated! Follow us for more delicious recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for our email list for more free recipes.

Icy cold Tropical Fruit Rambutan Cocktail in a martini glass with a bowl of fresh rambutans in a wooden bowl.
Print

Tropical Fruit Rambutan Cocktail

Delicately sweet, sour and slightly floral Tropical Fruit Rambutan Cocktail is perfect for summer sipping and we have an easy mocktail recipe for the kids.
Course Beverages
Cuisine American, Thai
Diet Vegan
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 2 cocktails
Calories 262kcal
Author HWC Magazine

Equipment

  • cocktail shaker
  • Blender or food processor

Ingredients

Tropical Fruit Rambutan Cocktail

  • 7 oz rambutan fruit peeled and pit removed. Can use either fresh or canned rambutan.(or about 12 rambutan)
  • 3 oz vodka or to taste (approximately 1.5 oz, 1 shot or 1 jigger per serving)
  • sparkling water or seltzer water, just a splash to fill the glass. (approximately 2 oz per glass) or to personal preference.
  • lemon juice optional - just a spritz in each glass
  • canned rambutan juice or simple syrup optional - if you like your cocktail extra sweet

Tropical Fruit Rambutan Mocktail

  • 10 oz rambutan fruit peeled and pit removed. Can use either fresh or canned rambutan. (or about 16 rambutan)
  • 4-6 oz sparkling water or seltzer water, just a splash to fill the glass. (approximately 3 oz per glass) or to personal preference.
  • lemon juice optional - just a spritz in each glass
  • canned rambutan juice or simple syrup optional - if you like your cocktail extra sweet
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Place your cocktail or mocktail glasses in the freezer to chill. If you don't have a freezer, put ice and water in the glass and it will chill it right down. Empty the glass of iced water.
  • In a blender add peeled and pitted rambutan and blend until smooth.
    Fruit blended in the blender.
  • In a cocktail shaker add vodka (hold for the kiddy mocktail), ice and mashed rambutan fruit. If desired, you can add either simple syrup or juice from canned rambutans to sweeten. Add a spritz of lemon, if desired. Shake well.
    Pour the pureed rambutan into a stainless steel drink mixer.
  • Strain Tropical Fruit Rambutan cocktail through the strainer and into your chilled glass. Top with a little sparkling water and give it a little stir. Garnish with a fresh rambutan, if desired.
     
    Vodka martini getting poured into a martini glass and rambutans around the table.
  • Enjoy!

Video

Notes

Please note the caloric count is using fresh rambutans, not canned. 
You can use either fresh or canned rambutans for this recipe. If you can’t find rambutans, you can exchange with fresh or canned lychee or longans. 
Do you like your drinks dry or sweet? The best part about this cocktail you can make it either way by balancing the ingredients to your desired effect.
  • If you like your cocktails only delicately sweet, do not add any simple syrup. The natural sweetness of the FRESH rambutans are perfect as they are a little sweet and slightly sour.
  • On the other hand, if you want your beverage sourer, add a little spritz of fresh lemon juice to taste.
  • Like your drinks sweet?
Option 1: Use CANNED rambutans in syrup instead of fresh. Add a little of the canned syrup to your desired sweetness.
Option 2: Make yourself a little simple syrup. Add equal amounts of sugar (or sugar alternative of choice) and water to a pot and slowly heat until all the sugar (or sugar alternative of choice) is melted and incorporated. Add a little cooled simple syrup to taste to your drink.
How to pick a Fresh Ripe Rambutan?
  • In the perfect world, you want your rambutan to be bright red with nice green hairs protruding for the perfect ripe rambutan.
  • They should smell sweet and never sour.
  • Just like in our post How to Cut a Pineapple, rambutan fruits do not ripen after harvest. So, pick a good batch to start with. 
  • If you see dark brown rambutan with dark brittle hairs that are all falling off, these are overly ripe. Can you still eat these? Yes, you can. However, when they get overly ripe, they form excess sugars. These excess sugars can ferment into alcohol.
Where can you buy rambutans?
 You can purchase these fresh tropical fruits from Asian Markets and even on Amazon from the fresh market. Lucky you, if you live in Hawaii, as you can find them at the local markets. Alternatively, you can also buy Rambutan fruit canned. Aroy-D has rambutan in syrup in 20 oz (565 g) cans. The canned version you can find at Asian markets and online as well. If you like your cocktails sweeter, you may prefer the canned option as you can use the syrup that the fruit came in to sweeten your drink. In addition, the canned ones already have the pit removed.
How to Store Rambutans?
Rambutan are always best eaten fresh. They can be stored at room temperature only for a day or 2 at most. Then, they must be stored in the refrigerator in a bag with perforated holes so that it can breathe. You can also peel, pit and store them in a freezer safe container in the freezer as they make fantastic Red White and Blue Healthy Sorbets for up to 2 months. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1cocktail | Calories: 262kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 2g | Sodium: 12mg | Potassium: 2mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 31g | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 0.01mg

The post Tropical Fruit Rambutan Cocktail appeared first on Healthy World Cuisine

]]> https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/tropical-fruit-rambutan-cocktail/feed/ 14 Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/rainbow-veggie-spring-rolls/ https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/rainbow-veggie-spring-rolls/#comments Tue, 06 Aug 2019 06:30:37 +0000 http://hwc.pxdev.net/recipe/rainbow-veggie-spring-rolls/ Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce is a fresh and bright appetizer or light main made with crisp rainbow vegetables, fresh herbs, shrimp, rice vermicelli noodles wrapped up in a gluten-free rice wrapper and served with a spicy prik nam pla dipping sauce.

The post Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce appeared first on Healthy World Cuisine

]]> Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce is a fresh and bright appetizer. These Vietnamese fresh rolls are made with crisp rainbow vegetables, herbs, shrimp, rice vermicelli noodles wrapped up in a gluten-free rice wrapper. Best served with our spicy prik nam pla dipping sauce. (Step By Step and VIDEO included)

Three summer rolls on a wooden blackboard with a small bowl of dipping sauce.
Jump to:

A bite of heaven!

These Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce are super fresh and delicious with a little sparkle of mint and cilantro. It is like having a little party in your mouth full of fun flavors and textures.

You are going to love the crunch of the julienned carrots, naturally sweet snow peas, fresh cucumbers. Next, you bite into those thin gluten free rice vermicelli noodles which are slightly chewy. All this deliciousness is wrapped up in a super thin gluten free rice wrapper to deliver that bundle of goodness to your mouth.

Last but not least, you plunge your Summer Roll into that sweet, spicy, sour and savory Prik Nam Pla dipping sauce and it's going blow your mind.

5 summer rolls with sauce and garnishes on a wooden board.

Summer Reprieve from the Kitchen

Have you forgotten that thing in your kitchen called the "OVEN"? We are certain we have forgotten how to even program the darn thing. She is one hot beast you don't want to have cranked up high during these hot and steamy summer days. After all, who wants to be trapped in your kitchen on these beautiful numbered summer days.

These easy Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce comes to the rescue. The best part about these Vietnamese rolls is that they can be made in advance. You can have all the ingredients prepared in advance. Then, when your guests arrive, have them assemble their own for an interactive gathering. These delicious summer rolls are also fantastic in lunches and bento boxes.

The bite shot showing all the rainbow vegetables, fresh herbs and noodles inside with a dipping sauce.

Celebrating Noodles

The first Tuesday of every month All That's Jas and Healthy World Cuisine travel the globe to find delicious NOODLE recipes. Today, Healthy World Cuisine is traveling to Asia with these delightful Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce.

Fresh Summer rolls are very popular in Vietnam and Thailand. Today it is wet, steamy and hot in both Bangkok and Hanoi. We can't think of a better way to cool off than to enjoy a refreshingly cold noodle than wrapped up in a rice wrapper (spring roll skin).

Step by step photos: Dry Noodles, noodles getting poured with boiling water, noodles steeping in hot water.

How to Prepare

Rice vermicelli noodles are thin rice-flour noodles. They are common in Southeast Asian cuisines. You can purchase rice vermicelli noodles in the Asian food section of most well stocked grocery stores, in Asian Markets or online. We used A Taste of Thai Vermicelli Rice Noodles for this recipe and for our Golden Spiced Noodle Soup.

The only downside of rice vermicelli noodles is that that crumble easy.  I usually end of softening the whole package at once as it is difficult to break off a small section unless you want your kitchen floor painted with dried noodles.

Step By Step

  • Place your dried rice vermicelli noodles in a large bowl.
  • Boil water in a pot or kettle and pour over the noodles to cover. Do not boil these noodles.
  • Stir around to get all the noodles soaking. Soak for about 5 minutes or just until the noodle is aldente to the tooth.
  • Drain, rinse with cold water. Drain again and set aside. (if your noodles get too dry, you can rinse again with a little cold water.) However, it is best that your noodles are dry when using them in your Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce because it makes it easier to roll.
Step by step how to Julienne vegetables.

Preparing your vegetables for summer rolls

You can use any vegetable you desire. We love eating the rainbow. You can use any vegetables you have in your crisper as long as they are cut julienned and are about the same in size.

We used julienned snow peas, carrots and cucumbers. However, red cabbage, mung beans (bean sprouts), lettuces, green onions and even tropical fruits are lovely wrapped inside. Take a look inside your crisper and use what you have. That is the beauty of this recipe.

Fresh herbs are optional, but we think they really make this recipe light and bright. We chose fresh mint and cilantro. Fresh Thai basil, Western basil and shiso leaves are also delicious.

How to Prep Shrimp

  • All you need to do is bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil.
  • Add your peeled and deveined shrimp. Put the lid on the pot and remove off of the heat.
  • Let the shrimp poach for about 5 minutes or until pink and no longer or translucent.
  • Drain and run under cool water.
  • Cut your shrimp lengthwise so that they are not too fat for your fresh spring rolls and they lay flat. Set aside.
Prik Nam Pla / https://www.hwcmagazine.com

The BEST Sauce

If you are going to go through all of that trouble making this summer roll recipe light and delicious, why would you want to weight down with some peanut butter hoisin sauce concoction.

We prefer this light and bright savory, sour, spicy and slightly sweet Prik Nam Pla: The Incredible Thai Table Condiment sauce. The perfect dip for your light and bright Summer rolls.

Step by Step showing a dried rice wrapper, then soaking in water and then pliable and ready for use.

How to soften the rice paper wrappers

Of course, there is always more than one way to skin a cat. However, these are some helpful tricks we have learned along the way in dealing with rice paper wrappers.

What are rice paper wrappers?

Rice paper wrappers are also sometimes called spring roll skins or "Banh Trang" in Vietnamese. They are thin round disks that look like a glass version of a tortilla. Rice paper wrappers can be used dry in recipes like Vietnamese Crab Pizza, rice paper dumplings or dampened to use in a summer roll. These rice paper wrappers are EXTREMLY delicate so handle with care both dry and wet. Rice paper wrappers are completely different than the wheat based wrappers used for our Air Fried Spring Rolls.

They are even more fragile when they are wet. The most important thing to remember is to absolutely have everything else all prepped and ready to go, sliced and mise in place before starting this procedure.

How to Moisten Rice Paper Wrappers

  • Get yourself a full-sized plate or one large enough to hold a spring roll skin inside.
  • Place room temperature water in your plate. Do NOT use hot water. Do you know how fast and how skilled you would need to be to use hot water and not have it turn into a gummy mess!!! You see when the skins get wet and pliable, they start to get sticky if you let them get to soaked or do not work fast enough.

Work fast

  • Your goal is to dip them on one side for about 7-10 seconds and then flip them over on the other side in the water for 7-10 sections just until they bend easily. They will continue to soften even after you take them out of the water. 
  • Do not soak more than about 20 seconds total.
  • You will dampen one wrapper at a time and then fill and roll.
  • Then proceed with the rest of the wrappers.

How to prevent sticking

  • If you place them on a damp tea cloth this is sometimes helpful to prevent sticking.
  • The most important thing is not to let them sit in the room temp water for more than about 20 seconds.
  • We suggest you practice with one or two of the rice wrappers to get the hang of it. The chef can eat those. (smiling)
  • Check out our video below where we demonstrate how to do this procedure.
All items ready in place. Mise en place.

How to Roll

Get all of your item's mise en place (ready to go and at your fingertips) - Be sure to check out our How to Make Fresh Vietnamese Summer Roll VIDEO.

  • Noodles are aldente and in a bowl
  • Shrimp are poached and sliced lengthwise and placed in a bowl
  • Vegetables are julienned sliced and placed in a bowl
  • Fresh herbs are washed, dried and placed in a bowl
  • Prik Nam Pla dipping sauce is made
  • Large plate with room temperature water inside and dried rice paper rolls/ spring roll skins are near you.
  • Cutting board or damp tea towel in front of you
  • Serving plate lined with lettuce leaves or sprayed gingerly with spray oil and then wipe most of it off to prevent sticking.

1) Soak your dried rice paper rolls/ spring roll skins for 7-10 seconds on each side and remove as soon as they start to soften. They will continue to soften as they sit.

Soaking dried rice paper wrapper in water.

2) Place on either a damp tea cloth or cutting board.

Rice paper wrapper moistened and on a cutting board.

3) Place julienned cut vegetables, prepared rice vermicelli noodles and fresh herbs on one edge of the dampened rice paper roll. Leaving about 1.5 inches from the edge.

Cucumbers...

cucumbers on the moistened rice wrapper.

Carrots

carrots added to rice wrapper.

Snow peas

Snow peas added to the rice paper wrapper.

Fresh Cilantro and mint added...

fresh cilantro and mint added.

Add your prepared rice vermicelli noodles.

Adding rice vermicelli noodles on top of vegetables and fresh herbs.

4) Place three cut in half shrimp (pink side down) on the dampened rice paper roll about 2 inches from your vegetables.

3 halved shrimp placed and 2 inches about the fresh vegetables with the pink side down.

5) Gently fold over one side of the dampened rice paper roll over the vegetable and shrimp.

Folding over left side of the rice paper wrapper.

6) Go to the other side and fold over the other side over just like you would a burrito.

Folding over the right side of the rice paper wrapper.

7) Now, firmly but gently roll the summer roll up until you meet the other end. The tighter you can get it the better. Be gentle as the rolls when moistened are very fragile.

Rolling up the rice paper wrapper like a burrito.

7) Repeat process with the rest of the rolls. Be patient with yourself. It takes a bit of time to master. If just not happening feel free to make a deconstructed Fresh Summer roll with all the supplies in front of you, otherwise known as our Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad.

Rolling the wrapper...
Completed summer roll.

8) Serve with Prik Nam Pla Sauce and enjoy!

Dipping the summer roll into the Prik Nam Pla Sauce.

How to Store

  • You can make your Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce up to 2 days MAX in advance but here are some helpful hints to keep them fresh.
  • It's best to wrap your rolls individually in plastic wrap tightly and then place in a sealed container in the refrigerator. This keeps them moist and prevents them from sticking to everything they touch.
  • If serving your appetizer in a couple of hours from now, you can lightly spray your serving dish with a little light flavored spray oil and then take a paper towel and wipe most of it off. Just a very fine amount just to prevent the sticking. Then cover with plastic wrap and stove in the refrigerator until serving.
  • Another option is to line your dish with lettuce leaves and place your rolls on the lettuce leaves but don't have them touch each other on the plate. This option works too.
  • We like to make our Prik Nam Pla sauce the day of as fresh is always best. Just store in a sealed container in the refrigerator until serving.
Close up shot of summer rolls showing the shrimp and vegetables through the delicate rice paper wrapper.

Warm Weather Meal Plan

Did You Like Our Recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and/or a review in the comments section below. Your feedback is always appreciated! Follow us for more delicious recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for our email list for more free recipes.

Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce / https://www.hwcmagazine.com
Print

Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce

Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce is a fresh and bright appetizer or light main made with crisp rainbow vegetables, fresh herbs, shrimp, rice vermicelli noodles wrapped up in a gluten-free rice wrapper and served with a spicy prik nam pla dipping sauce.
Course Appetizers/ Snacks
Cuisine Vietnamese
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 12
Calories 127kcal
Author HWC Magazine

Ingredients

  • 8 oz Rice vermicelli noodles
  • hot water
    boiling to soften rice vermicelli noodles
  • 18 shrimp peeled and deveined
  • 1 cup carrots julienned sliced about 2-inch strips
  • 1 cucumber
    large seedless julienned 2-inch strips
  • ¾ cup snow peas julienned
  • ½ cup cilantro
    (coriander leaves) fresh handful washed, and stems removed
  • ½ cup Mint fresh handful washed, and stems removed
  • 12 rice wrapping papers
    (spring roll skins)
  • Prik Nam Pla dipping Sauce optional
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Prepare your Rice Vermicelli Noodles: Place your dried rice vermicelli noodles in a large bowl.
  • Boil water in a pot or kettle and pour over the noodles to cover. Do not boil these noodles.
  • Stir around to get all the noodles soaking. Soak for about 5 minutes or just until the noodle is aldente to the tooth. Drain, rinse with cold water. Drain again and set aside. (if your noodles get too dry, you can rinse again with a little cold water.) However, it is best that your noodles are dry when using them in your Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce because it makes it easier to roll.
  • Prepare your Shrimp: Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add your peeled and deveined shrimp. Put the lid on the pot and remove off of the heat. Let the shrimp poach for about 5 minutes or until pink and no longer or translucent. Drain and run under cool water. Cut your shrimp lengthwise so that they are not too fat for your spring rolls and they lay flat. Set aside.
  • Prepare your Vegetables and herbs: Julienne slice your vegetables so they are about 2 inches in length. You can use any vegetables you like but make sure they are all similar sized when cut. (mung bean/bean sprouts, red cabbage, etc. all work well in here.) Wash and remove the stems from your fresh cilantro and mint or herbs of choice.
  • Make your prik nam pla dipping sauce. Set aside.
  • Get everything mise en place: That means get all of your vegetables and herbs in bowls or on a cutting board near you, prepared shrimp near you, prepared rice vermicelli noodles in a bowl, dried package of rice wrapping papers opened and a flat dinner plate about ¾ filled with room temperature water. You need to work fast, so you need everything at your fingertips.
  • Wrap your Summer Rolls: Soak your dried rice paper rolls/ spring roll skins for 7-10 seconds on each side and remove as soon as they start to soften in the plate with room temperature water. They will continue to soften as they sit. DO NOT soak longer than 20 seconds or you will have a sticky mess. Place on either a damp tea cloth or cutting board. Place julienned cut vegetables, prepared rice vermicelli noodles and fresh herbs on one edge of the dampened rice paper roll. Leaving about 1.5 inches from the edge. Place three cut in half shrimp (pink side down) on the dampened rice paper roll about 2 inches from your vegetables. Gently fold over one side of the dampened rice paper roll over the vegetable and shrimp. Go to the other side and fold over the other side over just like you would a burrito. Now, firmly but gently roll the summer roll up until you meet the other end. The tighter you can get it the better. Be gentle as the rolls when moistened are very fragile. Repeat process with the rest of the rolls. Be patient with yourself. It takes a bit of time to master. (See above for step by step photos and video for details.)
  • Enjoy your delicious Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce (prik nam pla)

Video

Notes

You can make your Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce up to 2 days MAX in advance but here are some helpful hints to keep them fresh. It's best to wrap your summer rolls individually in plastic wrap tightly and then place in a sealed container in the refrigerator. This keeps them moist and prevents them from sticking to everything they touch.
If serving your Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce in a couple of hours from now you can lightly spray your serving dish with a little light flavored spray oil and then take a paper towel and wipe most of it off. Just a very fine amount of oil just to prevent the sticking. Then cover with plastic wrap and stove in the refrigerator until serving.
Another option is to line your dish with lettuce leaves and place your summer rolls on the lettuce leaves but don’t have them touch each other on the plate. This option works too. We like to make our Prik Nam Pla sauce the day of as fresh is always best. Just store in a sealed container in the refrigerator until serving. You can use any vegetable or even fruit that your little heart desires just make sure that you cut them roughly the same size and that they are dry. If you would like to make this recipe vegan, you can exchange your shrimp with grilled tofu and exchange your fish sauce in the prik nam pla sauce with a little soy sauce or a sweet chili sauce.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 127kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 188mg | Potassium: 118mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1991IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce appeared first on Healthy World Cuisine

]]> https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/rainbow-veggie-spring-rolls/feed/ 42 Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/vietnamese-shrimp-vermicelli-salad/ https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/vietnamese-shrimp-vermicelli-salad/#comments Fri, 06 Apr 2018 15:45:48 +0000 https://www.hwcmagazine.com/?post_type=cp_recipe&p=11789 Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad is one light and fresh bite of deliciousness filled with fresh herbs, veggies and a zesty dressing you will want to drizzle on everything.

The post Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad appeared first on Healthy World Cuisine

]]> Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad is one light and fresh bite of deliciousness filled with fresh herbs, veggies and a zesty dressing you will want to drizzle on everything.

Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad stacked high on a black plate with lemon grass and chili peppers scattered around the plate.

Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad

You are just going to love this Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad because the texture of the crunchy vegetables, aldente noodles, bite of the shrimp with this killer lip smacking dressing is going to keep calling you back for seconds or maybe thirds.

We are not kidding. This secretly healthy salad is completely addictive. We love Asian flavors that combine the spicy, the tart, the savory and delicate sweetness to each bite. The balance is perfect.

Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad is a great make ahead salad. You know you are going to be needing a go to dish to pass for the spring and summers parties and festivities. The secret can be all ours but this one comes together in less than 30 minutes.

Are you a Chili Head?

Can we see a sign of hands of how many chili heads we have in the audience? For some, the thoughts of any chili what so ever gets them sending chills up their spine, their eyes are watering.

Try one of our Summertime Non-alcoholic Fruity Drink Recipes to cool the heat. No worries, you do not have to add any at all if you do not like them. You can add or adjust the heat level to your liking and that is the best part of this recipe.

Close up so you can see the succulent shrimp, Vermicelli noodles and super fresh crisp herbs.

Our dear friend Abbe (who makes the most awesome African Bobotie Recipe) was asking for a Vietnamese recipe after watching our video of the Asian market finds... Abbe cannot look at or be in the same room as a chili. Skip the chilies Abbe, this Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad recipe is for you.

Chilis to Help with Weight Loss

Have you heard that chili peppers can help with weight loss?  I don't think there is really any truth in the fact that it increases your metabolism, heats you up and helps you burn fat faster. However, you will notice that the more chilis you put in the dish, the less you can eat.

Maybe that is because your mouth is on fire or maybe it sends signals up to your brain, hey that hurts stop doing it. Well, whatever the case, you may have noticed that most Asian countries that have not been influenced by Western Diets are usually slender and fit. Is it because they eat chilis, probably not, but eating less because your mouth is on fire might do the trick.

Rice Vermicelli

Rice vermicelli is a very fine noodle made of ground rice. It's sold in Asian markets or whole food stores and is generally gluten-free. However, if you are celiac, then you need to confirm that your noodles were made is a gluten-free facility and it states that on the package.

Rice vermicelli noodles are so thin that they don't really need to be cooked. To soften your noodles, simply pour hot water over them in a bowl and soak for about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain your noodles and then rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process. Another refreshing recipe using almost the very same ingredients as this recipe is our Summer Rolls with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce. We hope you give it a try.

Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad / https://www.hwcmagazine.com

Zesty Vietnamese Dressing

In that 10-15 minute, you can sauté your shrimp and cut up your veggies and herbs and make your zesty dressing you will want to slather on everything.

We have found that using a food processor is useless when it comes to making this dressing. The lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves are very fibrous.  If you have a powerful Vitamix or similar food processor, it may work. We went old school and chopped up herbs finely, added a little salt and ground in a mortar and pestle until we had a fine paste.

Ingredient Exchanges and Substitution

Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad is delicious with almost any vegetable you have in your crisper. We just happened to have carrots, snap peas and mung beans but use any crisp vegetables you desire. If you like an added layer of texture, fry up shallots or toast peanuts to sprinkle on top.

If you want to make this recipe low carb/keto swap up the rice vermicelli noodles with thinly sliced napa cabbage and use a sugar substitute. You can make this recipe vegan by exchanging the shrimp with grilled tofu and exchanging the fish sauce with a little tamari steeped with shiitake mushrooms.

Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad is fabulous all on it's own or try this recipe topped with a few our Turmeric Pork Skewers with a Thai Basil Dipping Sauce or a Vietnamese Crab Pizza on the side.

Please check out our Vietnamese Recipe Section for more recipe inspiration.

Did You Like Our Recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and/or a review in the comments section below. Your feedback is always appreciated! Follow us for more delicious recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for our email list for more free recipes.

Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad / https://www.hwcmagazine.com
Print

Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad

Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad is one light and fresh bite of deliciousness filled with fresh herbs, veggies and a zesty dressing you will want to drizzle on everything.
Course Mains
Cuisine Vietnamese
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 276kcal
Author HWC Magazine

Ingredients

Salad Fixings

  • 6 oz Rice Vermicelli noodles
  • Boiling water
     enough to cover noodles in a bowl
  • 1 tablespoon Oil
  • 20 Shrimp
    large or about 5-6 large per person (peeled and deveined)
  • Salt and white pepper
     to taste
  • 1 cup Carrots
    julienne sliced or grated
  • 1 cup Snap peas
    cut on an angle
  • 1.5 cup Bean Sprouts
    (sprouted Mung beans) fresh
  • ⅓ cup Thai Holy Basil
    roughly chopped (can exchange with regular basil)
  • ⅓ cup Cilantro (coriander)- handful - roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon Mint
    fresh finely chopped (optional)

Salad Dressing

  • 4 cloves Garlic
     peeled and minced
  • 3 Thai bird chili
    or chili of choice seeds removed and chopped (4 Thai chilies is quite spicy. Adjust for your heat level as desired or try another mild chili or skip if you do not like spicy) 1 chili - mild 2 chili - medium 3 chili or more extra spicy
  • 2 stalks Lemongrass
     white ends only chopped finely or 2 tablespoon lemongrass paste.
  • 4 Kaffir Lime leaves chopped finely (or can exchange with 2 heaping teaspoons lime zest)
  • 1 inch Galangal knob peeled and grated (or can exchange with fresh ginger)
  • ⅛ cup Fish sauce (there are gluten free options on the market if you need this)
  • ¼ cup Lime juice
     (plus lime wedges for serving)
  • 2 tablespoon Sugar
     or sugar alternative- 2 tablespoon (We used coconut palm sugar ) adjust to your sweetness preferences
  • 2 tablespoon Water
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, add your rice vermicelli noodles and boiling water and let sit for about 10-15 minutes, just until aldente. Drain and rinse with cold water and set aside.
  • In a wok add your cooking oil and shrimp and stir fry for about 2-3 minutes until the shrimp are pink and no longer translucent. Add salt and white pepper to taste. Set aside.
  • Prepare your salad dressing - If you have a powerful food processor, add your garlic, chili (to desired heat level), lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar or sugar alternative to taste and water and process on high until all the ingredients are incorporated and minced extra fine.
  • If you do not have a powerful food processor- go old school and crack out the mortar and pestle. Add your garlic, chili, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal and a pinch of salt. Crush ingredients to a fine paste. Add your fish sauce, lime juice, sugar or sugar alternative and water and mix well.
  • In a large bowl, combine your prepared rice vermicelli noodles, your cooked shrimp, your prepared carrots, snap peas and mung beans (or thinly sliced vegetables of choice), chopped fresh Thai Holy Basil (or regular basil), cilantro and mint if desired.
  • Drizzle with your prepared Vietnamese Dressing and toss well. Garnish with lime wedges. Enjoy!
  • *** If you like another layer of texture- try topping with fried shallots or roasted peanuts.

Notes

Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad is delicious with almost any vegetable you have in your crisper. We just happened to have carrots, snap peas and mung beans but use any crisp vegetables you desire. If you like an added layer of texture, fry up shallots or toast peanuts to sprinkle on top.
If you want to make this recipe low carb/keto swap up the rice vermicelli noodles with thinly sliced napa cabbage and use a sugar substitute. You can make this recipe vegan by exchanging the shrimp with grilled tofu and exchanging the fish sauce with a little tamari steeped with shiitake mushrooms.
Vietnamese Shrimp Vermicelli Salad is fabulous all on it’s own or try this recipe topped with a few our Turmeric Pork Skewers with a Thai Basil Dipping Sauce.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 276kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 76mg | Sodium: 908mg | Potassium: 351mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 5861IU | Vitamin C: 30mg | Calcium: 97mg | Iron: 3mg

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]]> https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/vietnamese-shrimp-vermicelli-salad/feed/ 3 13 Easy Asian BBQ Recipes for Summer Grilling https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/summer-grilling-chilling-recipes/ https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/summer-grilling-chilling-recipes/#comments Wed, 24 May 2017 12:34:24 +0000 https://www.hwcmagazine.com/?post_type=cp_recipe&p=10898 Kick off your summer party with 13 Easy Asian BBQ Recipes! Enjoy grilled mains, sides, appetizers, & a planning guide for stress free entertaining.

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Get ready to kick off your summer party! Fire up the grill and explore these 13 Easy Asian BBQ Recipes for Summer Grilling. Each recipe is light, healthy, and bursting with umami flavor. This all-in-one planning guide also includes refreshing Asian - inspired drinks, appetizers, desserts and more.

Plus, we've included summer entertaining hacks to make your next gathering stress-free and unforgettable. Heck why dirty the kitchen when you can take the party outside!

Easy Asian BBQ and grilling recipes such as Thai pork skewers, grilled fish, Peking beer butt chicken, grilled vegetables and more.

The holidays are sneaking up on us… We have Memorial Day, Father's Day, Fourth of July weekend and all the graduation parties, showers, and festivities. Why grill another boring hotdog or hamburger, when you can kick up the party some delicious Asian Summer BBQ recipes. From Korean Beef Kalbi to an original Peking Style Beer Butt Chicken and even a vegan grilled Asian eggplant, there is something for everyone.  

Jump to:

Mouthwatering Grilled Mains: Easy Asian BBQ Recipes

Thai Pork Basil Skewers
Our Thai Pork Basil Skewers are a must try for anyone who loves the flavorful sweet, sour, savory, and spicy flavors of Thai cuisine. Marinated in a vibrant turmeric blend, grilled, and dipped in a zesty prik nam pla sauce that will excite your taste buds.
Get this recipe
Grilled Thai Pork Tenderloins on a white plate.
Peking Style Beer Butt Chicken
Crispy Peking Style Beer Butt Chicken is a fun Chinese American fusion dish perfect for a dinner party. A succulent whole chicken is grilled over an Asian herb infused beer can and glazed with a homemade sweet and savory Peking sauce. Serve it like a Peking duck with thin pancakes and toppings, or as a main dish alongside delicious Asian sides.
Get this recipe
Grilled Flank Steak with Thai Style Chimichurri
Craving a steak? Try this easy 30-minute Grilled Flank Steak with Thai Style Chimichurri sauce! The zesty sauce offers a unique twist on the traditional Argentinian chimichurri, packed with garlic, chilies, lemongrass and more. Perfect for gatherings, this quick Thai BBQ recipes lets you to marinate the steak and prepare the chimichurri before your guests arrive.
Get this recipe
Korean Beef BBQ Kalbi
Try Korean BBQ at home! These melt-in-your-mouth boneless kalbi short ribs are marinated in the secret Korean sauce, grilled to perfection. Served with gochujang dipping sauce, refrigerator pickles, kimchi, toppings, and lettuce leaves allowing everyone to assemble their own mini lettuce wraps It's a fun and healthy interactive dinner party idea.
Get this recipe
Negima Yakitori with Grilled Portobella
Don't let this fancy name fool you! This easy Japanese grilled dish has marinated chicken, Welsh onions, and umami-packed baby portobella mushrooms on each yakitori stick. These delicious skewers are simple to prepare in advance, making them a fantastic option for entertaining.
Get this recipe
Tropical Thai Swordfish
Tropical Thai Swordfish is a mouthwatering, succulent grilled fish infused with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, chili, and Asian pear. Just one bite, and you'll be hooked. Don't worry if you can't find all the Asian spices and herbs. We provide easy to find Western substitutions for each in the recipe.
Get this recipe
Tropical Thai Swordfish / https://www.hwcmagazine.com
Tea Smoked Chicken Legs
Finger-licking crispy skinned Tea Smoked Chicken Legs are smoked right on the gas or BBQ grill using an Asian tea spice packet and slathered with a sticky honey soy glaze. These Chinese smoked chicken legs are tender, juicy, smokey - perfect for a summer picnic.
Get this recipe
Tea smoked chicken legs on a plate garnished with oranges.
Thai Grilled Chicken Tenderloins and Zesty Dipping Sauce
Tender and juicy Thai infused chicken tenderloins take just about 12 minutes on the grill. Serve them as a part of a healthy meal with coconut ginger rice, stir fried or grilled veggies and our simple dipping sauce.
Get this recipe

Easy Side Dishes for BBQ: Grilled and Complementary Sides

Grilled Sides

Grilled Watermelon Salad (Thai Style + VIDEO)
If you already have the grill fired up, why not grill your salad? You won't believe how sweet and delicious watermelon gets after its grilled! The combination of sweet watermelon, crispy cucumbers, radishes, and a simple Thai dressing will have your taste buds singing.
Get this recipe
Plate of deliciously grilled watermelon and cucumbers tossed in a Thai dressing on a white plate with a red and white polka dot napkin.
Super Easy Grilled Asian Eggplant
This easy grilled Asian eggplant recipe is vegan with a ginger and chili glaze that will surely impress your family and guests.
Get this recipe

Complementary Sides

Quick Pickled Daikon Radish with Lemon
Lemon Daikon Radish Refrigerator Japanese Pickles are slightly sweet and tart and are a delicious accompaniment to grilled yakitori or Korean BBQ. Ready in under 10 minutes with just 5 ingredients. These refrigerator pickles are even more tasty when they are made in advance, making them the perfect side dish for a summer gathering.
Get this recipe
Lemon Daikon Radish Refrigerator Pickles in a glass jar.
Spicy Garlic Cucumber Refrigerator Pickles
Spicy Garlic Cucumber Refrigerator Pickles are zesty, garlicky, and addictive. With a blend of sour, spicy and sweet flavors, you won't be able to stop at just one! This Asian inspired side dish pairs wonderfully with Peking Glazed Beer Butt Chicken or Oolong Tea Smoked Chicken.
Get this recipe
Spicy Garlic Cucumber Refrigerator Pickles in a glass jar with chili peppers.
Nutty Ginger Tamari Quinoa Salad
Nutty Quinoa Salad is packed with crunchy toasted nuts, seeds, and veggies.  Drizzled with a delicious sesame tamari dressing it's a must have grilling side dish. This quick and easy salad is high in protein, tastes great warm or cold and is an easy make ahead side dish for a friends and family summer grilling gathering.
Get this recipe
Soba Noodle Salad with Yuzu Dressing
Our cold buckwheat Soba Noodle Salad with Yuzu Dressing always gets rave reviews. First, it can be made in advance which is always a plus. Secondly, the mixture of textures and flavors from the al dente noodles, crisp veggies and zesty yuzu ginger soy dressing makes this is a must try side dish for any grilled main dish. It's a carbohydrate and salad all combined into one!
Get this recipe
Ready to east soba noodle salad.
Thai Shrimp Mango Salad
This easy shrimp mango salad can be made in advance, so itis a great choice for hosting a dinner party. It's a light Asian salad made with green mango, fresh herbs, jumbo shrimp and tossed with a simple Thai Prik Nam Pla Sauce.
Get this recipe
Thai Shrimp mango salad in a lettuce cup garnished with crushed peanuts.
Sesame Burdock Root Salad
This traditional Japanese salad is made with burdock root and carrots in a light and creamy sesame mayo dressing. This sweet, savory, and slightly spicy dish offers a fantastic crunch, making it the perfect summer appetizer or easy side for yakitori. It can be made in advance and lasts 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator.
Get this recipe
Sesame Burdock Root Salad / https://www.hwcmagazine.com
Gochujang Fried Rice with Leftover Ham
Gochujang Fried Rice comes together in just 15 minutes using only 6 pantry ingredients. Each satisfying bite is sweetened with kimchi and a spicy kick from the gochujang sauce. It's a sensational side dish for a Korean BBQ!
Get this recipe
2 plates of gochujang rice topped with a sunny side up fried egg.

Tasty Appetizers: Asian Inspired Starters

Grilled Firecracker Shrimp
Start out your summer gathering with these spicy and garlicky Grilled Firecracker Shrimp. We grill them on a skewer to make them easy to hold in one hand and a drink in the other.
Get this recipe
Firecracker grilled shrimp just off the grill garlished with lime and cilantro on a black plate and marble table.
How to Cook Shishito Peppers on the Grill
Simple grilled shishito peppers tossed in toasted sesame seeds is the perfect way to kick off a summer BBQ. Easy to prepare but be careful as one out of every ten are spicy hot.
Get this recipe
Vietnamese Crab Pizza
This extra crispy Grilled Vietnamese Crab Pizza has a rice paper crust topped with eggs, crab, spring onions and homemade chili crisp. Outrageously good and ready in about 5 minutes, it's a quick and easy Asian appetizer or dinner idea. Perfect for sharing.
Get this recipe
Crispy grilled Vietnamese pizza sliced and holding a slice.

Asian Desserts - Sweet Endings for a Summer Gathering

Easy Mango Sticky rice
Easy Mango Sticky Rice is a quick take on the traditional Thai summer dessert, ready in under 20 minutes with our no soak sticky rice technique. Vegan, dairy-free, and tropical with ripe seasonal mangoes and a decadent ginger coconut sauce.
Get this recipe
Mango Sticky rice on a banana leaf with a wooden spoon on the side and sprinkled with black sesame seeds.
Banana Spring Rolls (Air Fryer Method)
Imagine biting into a super crispy Banana Spring Roll dipped in homemade coconut whipped cream, all made in your kitchen in under 30 minutes. This traditional Thai dessert uses just 4 ingredients and is air-fried for a healthier option. One bite of the crispy crust and warm, creamy banana, and you'll be hooked.
Get this recipe
A stack of crispy dessert spring roll in a wooden bowl with a side of whipped coconut cream.
Black Sesame Nice Cream
Looking for a sweet, light treat to enjoy after your summer BBQ? Try our Black Sesame Nice Cream for a delightful fusion of Asian Flavors and American novelty. Frozen bananas and black sesame paste are blended for a smooth soft serve ice cream.
Get this recipe
Black sesame nice cream in a scoop and in clear dish.
Matcha Strawberry Nice Cream Cups
Whipped frozen bananas are mixed with Japanese matcha green tea, swirled with strawberries, and topped with coconut whipped topping. Packed with antioxidants and so healthy you could eat it for breakfast.
Get this recipe
Matcha banana ice cream layered with fresh strawberries in a clear dessert cup.
No-Churn Dairy Free Mango Swirl Ice Cream
Our No-Churn Dairy Free Mango Swirl Ice Cream is made with just 3 ingredients and takes only 5 minutes. This is a fun tropical dessert that can be made in advance. Serve it up in a bowl garnished with extra mango slices and coconut or in a cone.
Get this recipe
No-Churn Dairy Free Mango Swirl Ice Cream / https://www.hwcmagazine.com

Refreshing Drinks and Cocktails

Tropical Fruit Rambutan Cocktail
Get the party started with our tropical fruit rambutan cocktail! Perfect for summer sipping, this refreshing drink can be made with fresh or canned rambutan.  We have a fruit non-alcoholic version too.
Get this recipe
Icy cold Tropical Fruit Rambutan Cocktail in a martini glass with a bowl of fresh rambutans in a wooden bowl.
Blue Elephant Chili Cocktail
Inspired by the Blue Elephant Restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand, we made this spicy and citrusy cocktail to kick off your summer BBQ parties. Your guests will feel pampered as you greet them into your home with this fun summer sipper.
Get this recipe

Asian Cuisine Menu Ideas: Timetable for Prep

Thai Cuisine:

  • Appetizer - firecracker grilled shrimp (can marinate up 1 hour)
  • Main - turmeric pork skewers (pork can be marinated up to 8 hours or overnight)
  • Side -Thai shrimp mango salad (Hold the dressing separately until you are ready to serve - can be made up to 2 to 3 days in advance)
  • Dessert - mango sticky rice (can be made up to 3 days in advance) or air fryer banana spring rolls (assembled up to 12 hours in advance and air fried when you are ready for dessert)
  • Drinks - Blue Elephant Chili Cocktails (You can blend the OJ, vodka and chili peppers together up to 24 hours in advance but hold off adding the sparkling water until ready to serve). Iced Tea and sparkling OJ for a non-alcoholic beverage option.

Korean Cuisine:

  • Appetizer: lemon daikon refrigerator pickles (best when made up to 3 days in advance)
  • Main: Korean kalbi beef BBQ (served with lettuce leaves, kimchi, veggies, and a dipping sauce)
  • Side: kimchi fried rice (can be made the day of and just reheat on the stovetop when ready to eat)
  • Dessert: mango swirl ice cream (can be made up to 3 days before and freeze. When you are ready to serve, leave it out at room temperature for about 15 minutes to make it easier to scoop)
  • Drinks: Watermelon or Pineapple Soju, fruit juices for the kids or Korean Beer

Japanese Cuisine:

  • Appetizer: grilled shishito peppers
  • Main- yakitori (can be marinated up to 24 hours or overnight - place the chicken and mushrooms on the skewers before your guests arrive)
  • Side - soba noodle salad - (can be assembled the day before but do not put the dressing on until you are ready to serve.)
  • Dessert - black sesame nice cream or matcha strawberry nice cream - ( can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in the freezer - allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before serving to make it easier to scoop)
  • Drinks - iced tea or Chuhai/Sake/Beer

Chinese Cuisine:

  • Appetizer: spicy garlic refrigerator pickles (Best if made 3 days in advance).
  • Main: Peking style beer butt chicken (prep up to 24 hours in advance) Can be served as is or with Chinese pancakes, green onions and duck sauce.
  • Side: Nutty Quinoa Salad (can be made 14 hours in advance but hold the dressing until ready to serve).
  • Dessert - Black Sesame Cookies (Can be made well in advance and even frozen)
  • Drinks: tropical rambutan cocktails to get the party started. (Rambutan, vodka and lemon can be blended up to 24 hours in advance - but wait to add the sparking water until you are ready to serve) Hold the vodka for a non-alcoholic fruity drink for the kids.

Tips for Hosting a Summer BBQ Gathering

Days Before

  • Make sure you have a full gas tank or a backup tank for the grill. Validate you have charcoal and supplies needed to fire up your BBQ grill.
  • Choose one Asian Cuisine and go with it. Explore the Asian Grilling Menu Ideas above for some ideas.
  • Keep the menu simple.
  • Choose items that can be made ahead or at least marinated in advance so all you need to do is throw them on the grill.
  • Prepare all the dishes that can be made in advance and refrigerate or freeze according to the recipe instructions.

Day of Party

  • Set up your BBQ station, clean it and be ready with tongs and clean platters for the cooked dishes.
  • Prepare your drink station ready with drinks, ice, cups, garnishes, etc.
  • Depending on Mother nature, set up your table to eat either indoors or outdoors. Have a backup plan for rain or mosquitos. Consider lighting, candles, and some music for festive summer vibe.
  • On the day of the gathering, place meats on skewers - if required. Toss any salads with dressings just before serving. Make any sauces.
  • Depending on the size of your table, you can either place all the prepared dishes right on the table and serve it up family style. If your table is small, you can use a separate table or even place the dishes inside on the kitchen counter and let everyone help themselves.

Now that you have 13 Easy Asian BBQ Recipes for Summer Grilling at your fingertips, it's time to fire up the grill and have a little summertime fun. With delicious main, sides, and meal suggestion plans for Thai, Korean, Japanese and Chinese Cuisines, you're all set for an unforgettable summer BBQ.

Don't forget to check out our preparation party tips to make hosting a breeze. Try these Asian grilling recipes and let us know in the comments how your gathering went. We can't wait to hear about your delicious adventures.

👉 Follow Healthy World Cuisine for more delicious recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for our email list for our free 30 minute recipe ebook.

More Asian BBQ Recipes: Sides & Sauces

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]]> https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/summer-grilling-chilling-recipes/feed/ 25 Vietnamese Pickled Shrimp and Vegetables https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/shrimp-boats-with-pickled-radish/ https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/shrimp-boats-with-pickled-radish/#comments Sun, 25 Jan 2015 03:36:53 +0000 http://hwc.pxdev.net/recipe/shrimp-boats-with-pickled-radish/ Make quick Vietnamese Pickled Shrimp and Vegetables in just 30 minutes! Perfect for healthy snacking, banh mi toppings, or a fresh lunch!

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Are you ready to nosh on fresh and vibrant Vietnamese Pickled Shrimp and Vegetables? These quick Asian pickles are bursting with fresh carrots, radishes, ginger, lime, fresh chilis and juicy shrimp in a flavorful brine.

We just can't stop eating this delicious snack over crispy rice paper crackers or in an avocado boat for a healthy lunch.  It's the perfect topping for banh mi sandwiches, salads or just straight out of the jar.

Vietnamese pickled shrimp and vegetables in a glass jar.
Jump to:

Quick Pickles with a Twist

Traditional Vietnamese Đồ chua (which translates to pickles) is usually made with carrots, daikon radish, a ton of sugar usually takes a few days to ferment. Our easy Vietnamese Pickled Shrimp and Vegetables is savory and sourer with a punch of heat from the chili and fresh ginger. It requires no fermentation, no cooking, it's low in sugar and you can pretty much be enjoying it within the 30 minutes it's prepared. You got to love that!

It's a great idea for spring and summer gatherings, picnics, and a fun last-minute appetizer. If you are huge pickle lovers like us, be sure to try these quick Asian pickled shrimp and vegetables, lemon daikon refrigerator pickles and spicy garlic cucumber pickles at your next gathering.

Ingredients

Ingredients to make the quick Vietnamese pickles laid out in little dishes on a gray background.

Fresh ginger - now this is something special - bright and a bit warming. If you are not keen on ginger, this can be omitted but you have no idea what you have been missing out on.

Cooked Poached Shrimp or Prawns- To save time we used medium frozen poached and peeled shrimp, or you can poach your own. I left the tails on the shrimp because of the photoshoot. However, for personal use, I would remove the tail to make it easier to eat.

Carrots - add the natural sweetness and a crisp texture to the pickles.

Radishes - We used the regular red radishes as they are in season right now. However, you can also use daikon radishes, like we use for daikon bacon radish cake or Chinese beef noodle soup.

Coriander/Cilantro Stems - this is an optional ingredient but adds so much flavor to brines, salad dressing and sauces like prik nam pla. Most people enjoy the cilantro leaves and throw away the stems. However, the stems have so much flavor and they don't disintegrate in the brine like the leaves do.

Lime Slices - Give that punch of floral sour and fresh signature Vietnamese flavor.

Fish Sauce - Savory and funky flavor we love. We used the Red Boat fish sauce to keep it gluten free. Check out our essential Asian pantry staples article to learn more about the must have ingredients to make delicious Asian recipes on a whim.

Rice Wine Vinegar - but you can also use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar.

Honey - for just a touch of sweetness to melo out the acid from the vinegar and lime juice.

Fresh Chili Peppers - of course optional! However, if you like a little heat, then it is a must. You can use fresh chili peppers of choice or even just a jalapeno.

How to Make Vietnamese Pickles

Poached shrimp and julienned slicing fresh ginger.
  • Thaw frozen cooked (poached) shrimp or poach raw shrimp and cool. Peel and remove the vein.
Julienned sliced carrots and red radishes.
  • Peel and julienne slice ginger and carrots.
Slicing limes and dicing coriander stems.
  • Julienne slice radish and limes.
Making the pickling brine and layering the shrimp and vegetables into a clear glass jar.
  • Chop coriander stems and slice optional chili peppers. In a medium bowl add microwaved honey, fish sauce and vinegar and mix well.
  • In a clean mason jar or sealable food storage device, layer the julienne sliced ginger, prepared shrimp, carrots, radish, limes, coriander, chili peppers. Pour the brine of fish sauce, vinegar and honey over the shrimp and veggies. Shake well and refrigerate for at least an hour before enjoying.

Quick Tip: Julienne slicing your veggies makes it easier and quicker for the brine to penetrate the veggies and soak up all that delicious goodness.

Shrimp Tips

  • Using medium or smaller shrimp is preferred so it takes less time for them to pickle.
  • From a texture perspective it is nicer when everything is similar in size. You could even slice larger shrimp in half lengthwise like we did in our fresh summer rolls, for optimal flavor absorption.
  • It is best to remove the tail from the shrimp to make it easier to eat. We left it on just for the photo shoot - hey it's all about looking cute in the shot!
  • To keep it simple we used frozen already cooked shrimp with the shells off. See the FAQ section below to learn how to poach raw shrimp from frozen.
Pickled shrimp and veggies in an avocado boat.

Recipe Tips

  • For making quick pickles, glass jars are preferred because they are non-reactive. This preserves flavor in acidic brines. While food-grade plastic containers can be used, I worry about plastics leaching out into the food. In addition, avoid materials like copper or iron that may react with the acid and make the pickles taste metallic.
  • Do not worry if the brine does not fully cover the shrimp and veggies. Initially it leaves some exposed, but after a gentle shake, the brine works its magic. It causes the veggies to soften and gradually sink below the surface, fully immersing them in the flavorful liquid.
  • As this recipe includes fish sauce and fresh limes, the brine will turn slightly cloudy in a few hours, and this is okay.
  • Allow at least 30 minutes before enjoying and best enjoyed within 24 hours. Vinegar and lime juice can cook or breaks down the protein structure the shrimp as it sits. It can change the texture of the shrimp, so it is best used within the same day.
  • If you want to keep the pickled shrimp longer, do not add the brine until about 30 minutes before you are ready to serve.
  • Do not freeze fresh refrigerator pickles because the texture is just not the same after the thaw.
Pickled shrimp with Vietnamese pickles on air fried rice paper crackers.

Would you like to know how we made these 5-minute easy rice paper crackers? Let us know in the comments below.

Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ's)

How to Julienne Veggies Without a Julienne Peeler?

If you have a julienne peeler, it makes the carrot prep easier. However, we do not have one. So, this is the process we use to julienne carrots.

1. Use a standard peeler to peel the carrots.
2. Depending on the size of the carrot, cut into half or into thirds.
3. With the same standard peeler, we peel thin slices with the carrots.
4. Stack a few of the thin carrot slices together and make thin longitudinal slices.
5. Repeat the process with the rest of the carrot slices.

With smaller and shorter veggies like red radishes and ginger. Just peel, slice thinly and then cut diagonally into thin slices.

How to Poach Raw Shrimp?

1. Fill a pot with water and aromatics like lemon or lime peel, bay leaves, peppercorns, spring onion or cilantro.
2. Bring to a boil and add the shrimp. We like to remove the shrimp veins but keep the shell on to cook.
3. Remove from the heat and place the lid on the pot.
4. Leave the shrimp set in the pot with the lid on for approximately 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the size of the shrimp, or until pink and no longer translucent.
5. Carefully drain shrimp and plunge into an ice bath.
6. Peel the shrimp.

The poached shrimp are ready to be used in the Vietnamese pickled shrimp and vegetables, Thai shrimp mango salad or in your favorite recipes.

I don't even want to confess how many jars of pickles we consumed while testing this recipe, but we enjoyed every delicious minute. We hope you do too!

More Vietnamese Recipes

Did You Like Our Recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and/or a review in the comments section below. Your feedback is always appreciated! Follow us for more delicious recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for our email list for more free recipes.

Vietnamese pickled shrimp and vegetables in a glass jar.
Print

Vietnamese Pickled Shrimp and Vegetables

Make quick Vietnamese Pickled Shrimp and Vegetables in just30 minutes! Perfect for snacks, banh mi toppings, or a fresh lunch-delicious and healthy!
Course Appetizers/ Snacks
Cuisine Vietnamese
Diet Diabetic, Gluten Free, Low Lactose
Prep Time 15 minutes
Pickling Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 106kcal
Author HWC Magazine

Equipment

  • glass jar with lid

Ingredients

Shrimp and Vegetables

  • 8 ounces shrimp thawed from frozen or fresh raw poach (cook) 12 ounces and then remove veins and shells) *see recipe notes
  • 5-6 radishes
     sliced thin and julienned
  • 1 medium carrot peeled and julienned
  • ⅓ cup ginger fresh, peeled and julienned
  • 1 lime sliced thinly and cut in half
  • ¼ cup coriander stems sliced
  • 1 - 2 chili peppers fresh sliced (optional)

Pickling Brine

  • 2 tablespoons honey microwaved for just 10-15 seconds (or maple syrup)
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  • ⅓ cup rice vinegar
    * see recipe notes for alternatives

Garnishes and Serving

  • sesame oil to drizzle on top (optional)
  • cilantro leaves optional
  • avocado sliced in half (optional)
  • crispy rice paper crackers or crackers of choice (optional)
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Prep the shrimp and vegetables as described in the ingredient list. Set Aside.
  • In a medium bowl combine the microwaved honey, fish sauce and rice vinegar and stir well.
  • Clean a glass container with a tight fitting lid. Layer in the glass container the julienne sliced ginger, poached and prepped shrimp, sliced limes, carrots, radishes, coriander stems and sliced chili peppers.
  • Pour the pickling brine with the honey, fish sauce and rice vinegar over the shrimp and vegetables. Shake well.
  • Let the pickle mixture sit for 15 to 30 minutes. Enjoy over an avocado half drizzled with sesame oil and chopped coriander leaves. Delicious served over crispy rice paper crackers or crackers of choice for a healthy snack.

Video

Notes

We used 8 ounces frozen already cooked shrimp and thawed them to keep this recipe quick and easy. If you have raw shrimp cook 12 ounces as they shrimp slightly after poaching. 
How to Poach Raw Shrimp?
  • Fill a pot with water and aromatics like lemon or lime peel, bay leaves, peppercorns, spring onion or cilantro.
  • Bring to a boil and add the shrimp. We like to remove the shrimp veins but keep the shell on to cook.
  • Remove from the heat and place the lid on the pot.
  • Leave the shrimp set in the pot with the lid on for approximately 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the size of the shrimp, or until pink and no longer translucent.
  • Carefully drain shrimp and plunge into an ice bath.
  • Peel the shrimp.
Recipe Tips
  • For making quick pickles, glass jars are preferred because they are non-reactive. 
  • Our glass jar was 16 ounces. 
  • If you do not have rice vinegar, you can substitute with apple cider vinegar or white vinegar. 
  • Do not worry if the brine does not fully cover the shrimp and veggies. Initially it leaves some exposed, but after a gentle shake, the brine works its magic.
  • As this recipe includes fish sauce and fresh limes, the brine will turn slightly cloudy in a few hours.
  • Allow at least 15-30 minutes before enjoying and best enjoyed within 24 hours. 
  • If you want to keep the pickled shrimp longer, do not add the brine until about 30 minutes before you are ready to serve.
  • To keep gluten-free, we used Red Boat fish sauce.
  • Feel free to use any fresh vegetables of choice such as cucumber, daikon radish and more in this quick pickle recipe. 

Nutrition

Calories: 106kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 0.4g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Trans Fat: 0.003g | Cholesterol: 91mg | Sodium: 789mg | Potassium: 295mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 2591IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 1mg

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