Vietnamese Shrimp and Glass Noodle Salad

Ingredients

Vietnamese Dressing:

• 2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
• 2 fresh long red chiles, seeded and finely diced or julienned
• 2 tablespoons finely minced fresh ginger
• 4 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
• 1 lime, juiced
• 4 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons groundnut oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Salad:

• 8 ounces cooked small shrimp
• 6 ounces glass noodles
• 4 ounces sugar snap peas
• 4 ounces bean sprouts
• 3 scallions, sliced into thin circles
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves, to garnish

Directions

To make the Vietnamese Dressing, simply mix all the ingredients together. This will keep very well in a tightly sealed jar in the refrigerator for at least a week.

To make the salad, marinate the shrimp in 1/2 cup of the Vietnamese Dressing. While this is going on, soak the noodles in freshly boiled water according to packet instructions. Once re-hydrated, refresh the noodles in cold water, then drain. Put the sugar snaps and bean sprouts into a colander and pour over freshly boiled water from a kettle. Rinse them with cold water and drain well, just shaking the colander, so they're not actually wet.

In a large bowl, mix the marinated shrimp with the drained noodles, scallions, sugar snaps, and bean sprouts. Dress with 2 tablespoons more of the Vietnamese Dressing; add more dressing, to taste, if desired.

Sprinkle over the chopped cilantro and toss everything together well before arranging onto a large plate.