If you’re tired of covering your stockpiled vermicelli with tomato sauce, try taking it in a new direction. My spicy rice noodle salad is the kind of dish you can make your own way for a satisfying way to eat more veggies.
One sauce, two purposes
The sauce is spicy with a touch of sweetness that makes a perfect marinade. Plus, that marinade is also the dressing. That cuts down on prep time and simplifies life.
Protein of your choice
You’ll use that marinade on your favorite protein. I’ve made it with chicken, steak, tofu, and seafood and I can’t decide which version I loved the most. They’re all so good! You’ll let your protein soak up the marinade for at least an hour, though if you plan ahead and do it overnight, you won’t regret it. Shrimp and other seafood are the only exceptions to this as they only need to marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes up to 2 hours.
Versatile vegetable options
The rest of this spicy rice noodle salad is also versatile. You can use any salad greens you like (spinach, spring mix, etc). And if you really want to make things easier, a bag of coleslaw mix from the supermarket will save you time on prepping the veggies. That method is perfect for any busy night when you don’t feel like spending much time in the kitchen. NOTE: How to cut purple cabbage If you plan to use purple cabbage, here is a great way to yield even slices:
Cook your protein
Once you’ve marinated your protein, you can cook it using whatever method you like. I’ve mainly introduced how to pan fry the protein, which is the fastest way. But you can use an oven or an air fryer if you prefer. NOTE: make sure you remove the marinade from the protein to ensure even browning. The cooking time for different proteins will vary by method. Check out the footnote in my recipe to see the details for different cuts.
Assemble & enjoy!
Combined all together, the result is spectacularly addictive. It’s all so bright and cheerful in color. Orange carrots, green spinach, and red cabbage create a picture-perfect dish you can’t resist. If you want to make the dish in advance and enjoy it later, that’s perfectly OK, too. If you let the dish rest in the fridge overnight, the noodles will become even more flavorful the next day. Feel free to double the sauce as well, so you have some leftovers to add to other salads during the coming week. If you plan to make a big batch of sauce, you can use a blender so you can skip grating the ginger and garlic. I guarantee you that you’ll want to make this dish again and again once you try it. Spicy rice noodle salad is pretty irresistible! Want to learn more about Chinese Cooking? Sign up my newsletter to receive the 5-Day Chinese Cooking Crash Course and ongoing recipe updates! If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
More easy one bowl dinners
Chicken Fried RiceKorean Fire Chicken (Cheese Buldak)Steamed Salmon in Black Bean SauceJapchae (Korean Sweet Potato Noodles)Cantonese Ground Beef Rice and Eggs
Lilja Walter is a part of the Omnivore’s Cookbook team and worked closely with Maggie to develop and test this recipe.
