This has become my favorite summer salad--it's super easy, and leaves you with that delightfully satisfied but not over-gorged feeling afterwards. Plus, it has almost all the colors in the rainbow, making it a crowd pleaser!
Serves: 6
Ingredients
Salad:
1/2 package fresh miki egg noodles (udon or rice noodles would work fine too)
1 large or 2 small ripe mangoes
2 red radishes, skin left on
1 carrot, peeled and julienned or scraped
A handful of cilantro
One quarter head of red cabbage
1 cup matchsticked cucumber
Approx. 2 cups deep fried tofu (you can get this in the tofu section of most Asian food stores)
1/3 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, smashed
Dressing:
1/4 cup Tiparos fish sauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup (scant) of brown sugar
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
Juice of half a lime
Chili oil to taste
Cook noodles until they are al dente, just a few minutes, strain and run cold water over them to cool them down. Finely chop all your ingredients, with mangoes cut into strips.
Dressing: mix together fish sauce and brown sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add oils and juice of lime and mix well until combined. If serving later, pour half the mixture over your ingredients and add the rest of your dressing later. If serving immediately, pour on all of your dressing. Top with peanuts last.
Check out these amazing bento creations on Flickr! I've never had the time or patience to construct miniature Pokemons or or Cooking Mamas out of egg omelettes, rice, nori and spam, but if you ever feel inclined, this is a great gallery to get some ideas!
