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Vietnamese rice noodle salad with grilled chicken recipe

Experience the explosion of flavours in our gluten-free Vietnamese rice noodle salad with grilled chicken and nuoc cham. Perfect for casual gatherings or a quick weeknight meal!
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Vietnamese rice noodle salad with grilled chicken recipe in a bowl with garnishes and nuoc cham dressing.
Prep Time:20 minutes
Cook Time:5 minutes

Ingredients

Chicken marinade:

  • 4 chicken breasts or 8 deboned skinless chicken thighs
  • 1 medium piece of lemongrass stripe the hard outer leaves and cut the white part into thick pieces *
  • 2 – 3 garlic cloves sliced
  • 2 Tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 Tbs soy
  • 1 Tbs honey or brown sugar or palm sugar
  • 2 Tbsp lime juice
  • 2 tsp freshly ground ginger optional

Nuoc cham:

  • 5 Tbsp fish sauce
  • 4 Tbs rice wine vinegar
  • ½ cup water 120 ml
  • 3 Tbs freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1 red chilli finely chopped or omit to keep it mild
  • 1-2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
  • 1 Tbs grated palm sugar or light brown or white sugar
  • 2 Tbs good quality sweet chilli sauce optional

Salad noodle bowls:

  • 250 gm vermicelli rice noodles – cooked according to the pack instructions or see above
  • 1 – 1.5 cups shredded or julienned carrot
  • 4-5 cups of finely shredded cabbage
  • 1 small head of Romaine lettuce cut into ribbons
  • Small bunch of fresh mint roughly chopped
  • A small bunch of fresh coriander roughly chopped
  • 6 spring onions finely chopped
  • 6 Mediterranean cucumbers sliced
  • 1 red bell pepper finely sliced
  • 6-8 Tbsp roughly chopped roasted salted peanuts optional
  • Additional sliced chilli to garnish optional

Instructions

  • Make the marinade in advance. Place all the marinade ingredients into a zip-seal bag with the chicken and mix to ensure all the chicken is coated. Store in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.
  • Make the nuoc cham dressing by placing all the dressing ingredients into a jar, sealing and shaking until well combined (this can be made in advance). Adjust any element of the dressing to your own taste preference.
  • Soak the vermicelli noodles as per the above instructions. Rinse, drain and set aside to cool.
  • Prepare all the vegetables by peeling and cutting them into thin strips (shred etc) and set them aside in different bowls if you are doing a DIY. Alternatively, and once the chicken is cooked add them to a large bowl and toss to combine. If necessary cut the rice noodles so they incorporate more easily into the salad and with the dressing.
  • Heat a griddle pan or BBQ grill. Shake any lemongrass and garlic off the chicken pieces and lightly brush with oil. Grill until charred on the outside and juicy in the middle. Set aside to cool slightly and then slice.
  • Serve the sliced grilled chicken with the noodle salad. Dress generously with the nuoc cham dressing and sprinkle peanuts, additional slices of chilly and herbs if you are using these.

Notes

*If you can't find fresh lemongrass, use lemongrass paste
Servings: 4
Author: Sam Linsell