Some of our favorite summer meals come from Vietnam and East Asia. Emily has generously shared many recipes from her own Vietnamese heritage, sometimes spiced up with a bit of Korean spice and flair! Here's a look back at 10 Vietnamese and East Asian dishes for summer — from a cool vegetarian salad, to lemongrass tofu, to fresh summer rolls.
These dishes are all light and very fragrant — most are packed with vegetables and herbs. Perfect for summer!
TOP ROW
• 1 Bún Chay (Vietnamese Vegetarian Noodle Salad) - A light salad of rice noodles and herbs.
• 2 Vietnamese Ginger Crab - Crab simmered with ginger and garlic.
• 3 Vegetarian Bánh Xèo (Vietnamese Crêpes) - Eggy crepes folded over sprouts and vegetables.
• 4 Goi Chay (Vietnamese Vegetarian Salad) - Crisp shredded cabbage with a flavorful dressing.
• 5 Vegetarian Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup) - The famous Vietnamese soup — great for overcast summer days.
BOTTOM ROW
• 6 Kimchi Tofu Summer Rolls - Light and fresh summer rolls with tofu rolled up inside.
• 7 Bánh Mì with Lemongrass Tofu - The classic Vietnamese sandwich, but with tofu instead of pork.
• 8 Green Papaya Salad (Som Tam) - An incredibly refreshing salad.
• 9 Vegetarian Naengmyun (Korean Cold Noodles - Cold noodles for hot days.
• 10 Che Dau Xanh (Vietnamese Dessert Soup With Mung Beans) - A sweet, light dessert soup.
Do you have any favorite Vietnamese or East Asian recipes that you enjoy in the summertime?
(Images: See linked recipes for full image credits)
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Sunomono noodle salad is awesome in the summer, especially when made with bean thread noodles.
We also do a hacked-together variation on a dish known simply as "peanut noodles": cold noodles with a peanut-sauce dressing (natural peanut butter, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, sugar, stock to thin it out, chilis for heat). Top it off with chopped green onion, raw greens (bok choy, cilantro, whatever you want!), and cubed bean curd. So good!
I made this one from Fine Cooking the other day. I loved it and was so perfect for a hot summer day!
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/quick-vietnamese-style-chicken-salad.aspx
I frequently slap together a Peanut Noodles dish similar to kittystockings (and with lots of chopped raw or briefly blanched greens), but this Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Shrimp and Veggies (Bún Tôm Xào) is my usual go-to. One of these days, I'll attempt papaya salad.
Hanco's in Cobble Hill makes the most amazing Bahn Mi in NYC! (pork OR Tofu...both delicious)
Oooh Vietnamese Hot and Sour salad is AMAZING - it's the soy sauce kick and the garlic and carrot and chilli .. plus the tofu. It's sooo good fod summer.
Gosh. Anyway I found this recipe for it in a recipe book and made it with some pictures, it's an awesome recipe and I make it all the time. It's here, do make it!
Why, yes! I do. This is a bit of horn tootin', but I recently won a trip to NY for this recipe and it will be on the menu (for 1 night) at Candle 79. Yeeehaw!
http://is.gd/mvZS5J
Fantastic post, thank you so much!
I grew up in France where the large majority of Asian food is actually Vietnamese; I didn't realise that until I moved abroad and started craving deep-fried spring rolls like crazy.
It's so difficult to find here (UK), that's just made me very happy!
Not sure if anyone in New York has been to Smorgasburg on the river yet, but the stand there called Queen's Dahn Tu has really amazing banh xeo. Hard to eat on a park bench, but super delicious, especially with the vinegar dipping sauce!
I just did a whole class on Vietnam - how I could have used this last week!! Thanks!
The Kimchi Tofu Summer Rolls are my new favorite! Yummy combination.
Am going to make the Bun Chay and the Summer Spring Rolls for dinner tonight...can't wait! Thanks for the great recipes!
These Korean Spicy Cold Noodles are excellent:
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/korean_spicy_cold_noodles/