Deconstructed Vietnamese Summer Roll Bowl
Everything that goes inside a summer roll, without the wrapper wrestling. The kettle is the only heat.
Why it works
Fine rice vermicelli is thin enough to soften right through in off-the-boil kettle water in six minutes, so the hob stays cold. Nuoc cham is a ratio rather than a recipe — equal parts fish sauce, lime and water, half as much honey — so you can taste and correct it in the bowl you serve from.
Method
- Boil the kettle. Put the vermicelli in a large bowl, cover with hot water by 2 cm (¾ in) and leave 6 minutes. Sit the soya beans in a sieve and pour the rest of the kettle over them, then leave them to drain and cool.
- Meanwhile whisk the fish sauce, lime juice, warm water, honey, garlic and red chilli in the serving bowl until the honey dissolves. Taste: sharp first, salty second, barely sweet.
- On one board, cut the cucumber into matchsticks, coarsely grate the carrots and shred the baby gem, then pick the mint, coriander and Thai basil, leaves whole so they stay springy.
- Drain the noodles and rinse under the cold tap until cool and no longer tacky — this is what stops them setting into a brick.
- Turn the tofu in 3 tbsp of the dressing and leave 2 minutes; it takes the liquid up like a sponge.
- Divide the noodles between four bowls, pile on the cucumber, carrot, baby gem, soya beans, herbs and tofu, spoon over the rest of the dressing, finish with peanuts.
For the toddler
Build their bowl before the nuoc cham comes near it, with noodles, vegetables, herbs and a few slabs of undressed tofu. The dressing is fish sauce, chilli and honey, and honey is not for a baby under one, so leave it off theirs and moisten the noodles with a little lime juice and oil instead. Cut the noodles short, squash the soya beans, and keep the crushed peanuts off, as nuts are a choking risk under five.
How the toddler notes workChef’s notes
500 g cooked cold king prawns or shredded poached chicken in place of the tofu.
Put carrot and cucumber through the same box grater and skip the knife.
Prawn crackers, and a saucer of carrot and daikon pickled in rice vinegar to pile on as you eat.
Keep the dressing separate and it holds 2 days. Dressed noodles go soft overnight.