Here at Nom Nom, we are pretty much obsessed and love all Vietnamese food.  Lately, noodles have been heavy in our thoughts.  One noodle in particular, would be the rice vermicelli.  It is made only with rice flour, water and a little salt.  It can be added to wraps, spring rolls and my most favorite, in a cold noodle salad, which is a traditional Vietnamese dish known as bún.

Our cool noodle salad is such a refreshing dish: the soft and light rice noodles sits on a layer of chopped romaine lettuce and basil and is garnished with cucumbers, chopped roasted peanuts, our house-made pickle veggies (do chua) and fresh scallion oil, topped your choice of hot protein: Honey grilled pork, lemongrass chicken or tofu.  Placing the sizzling hot meat on the cool noodles is crucial, as it brings more flavors to the noodles and does not wilt the veggies.  It is served with nước chấm, a traditional Vietnamese dipping sauce.  This Vietnamese “vinaigrette” is the staple and as common to have in the kitchen as ketchup.   My nước chấm recipe has been in the family for three generations as with the recipe laminated on the fridge as a friendly reminder of our family dinners growing up.*(also available as Vegan)

 Just like the perfectness of bánh mì, bún exemplifies the brightness and freshness of Vietnamese cuisine.  The loads of crunchy vegetables, cool cucumber, herbs, noodles and topped with the savory meats is such a satisfying and healthy choice.  It can be made gluten free too for our many nomsters (yay for rice noodles!). This is what makes Vietnamese food so addicting, delicious and above all: nom nom!