Rice Noodle Salad With Salted Peanuts and Herbs

By Melissa Clark

Published June 19, 2019

  • Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
25 minutes
Rating
4(486)
Comments
Read comments

This satisfying salad has rice noodles and vegetables in equal measure, making it bright, crisp and light. The peanuts add richness and a salty crunch, along with a dose of protein. And the dressing is a little spicy and a lot tangy, with a pungent kick from fish sauce, garlic and ginger. The recipe makes just enough dressing to lightly coat the vegetables and noodles, but if you’re a fan of heavily dressed salads, consider doubling it. Any leftover will keep in the fridge for up to a week, and you’ll be happy to drizzle it on fish, chicken and all kinds of vegetables.

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: Give recipes to anyone

    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.

    Subscribe

  • Share this recipe

  • Print this recipe

    or to print this recipe.

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

FOR THE SALAD

  • 1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced

  • 1 large carrot, grated

  • 1 ½ tablespoons rice wine vinegar

  • 2 teaspoons granulated sugar

  • Pinch of fine sea salt

  • 8 ounces pad Thai rice noodles

FOR THE DRESSING

  • 3 tablespoons lime juice (from about 2 limes), plus more to taste

  • 2 tablespoons grapeseed or other neutral oil

  • 1 ½ tablespoons fish sauce

  • 1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

  • 1 garlic clove, finely grated or mashed to a paste

  • 1 to 2 bird’s-eye or serrano chiles, thinly sliced

FOR THE GARNISH

  • 1 cup thinly sliced cucumber, preferably Persian

  • Handful of lettuce leaves, torn if large

  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced

  • Large handful of fresh, soft herbs, such as dill, mint and cilantro

  • ½ cup roasted and salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

  • 4 hard-boiled eggs (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

58 grams carbs; 149 milligrams cholesterol; 475 calories; 11 grams monosaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 21 grams fat; 4 grams fiber; 785 milligrams sodium; 14 grams protein; 6 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a medium bowl, toss radishes and carrot with vinegar, sugar and salt, and let sit while preparing remaining ingredients.

  2. Step 2

    Cook rice noodles according to package instructions. Immediately transfer to a colander and rinse under cold water to cool. Set aside to drain.

  3. Step 3

    In a small bowl, prepare the dressing: Stir together lime juice, oil, fish sauce, ginger, garlic and chiles.

  4. Step 4

    Pile noodles in a large bowl, then top with radish and carrot mixture and any juices from the bowl, cucumber, lettuce, scallions, herbs, peanuts and eggs, if using. Drizzle the dressing over the top.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Ratings

4 out of 5
486 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Comments

Rob

While the boiled eggs might be yummy, I used firm tofu, lightly sautéed in oil to up the protein content. It worked swimmingly.

Ruth

I made this last night - it was delicious. Increased the veggies and herbs, skipped the eggs, doubled the dressing and served with marinated teriyaki salmon and roasted asparagus on the side. It was a big hit with guests on a warm summer night on the porch.

Read

Firm silken tofu sounds pretty good in this, and if you sub shoyu for the fish sauce it'd make it vegan. But as to @Rob's note about protein, egg has about 80% more protein by weight as tofu.

lindsey g.

I used what I had for the main components and the garnishes but I made the dressing exactly as written and holy cow, it was so good. This is absolutely going into the rotation!

Elizabeth

This has been a summer favorite of ours for several years. Lately, since we’ve moved from vegetarian to vegan, I’ve been replacing the noodles and eggs with GF veggie potstickers. We like it even more this way.

Lakelady

This was a rare Melissa Clark recipe that I didn’t love. The noodles were tough and gummy even though I cooked them past the instructions. I added chicken instead of eggs. The dressing was the problem. It doesn’t taste like pasta Thai to me without tamarind.

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

or to save this recipe.