A good, well-seasoned salad always leaves such a satisfying feeling and this potato vermicelli salad does just that. No, the salad doesn't contain potatoes - it's the vermicelli that is made from potatoes. This salad is light, flavorful, and quick to make.
The vibrancy of the salad makes you want to reach out for more with a toasted sesame and cashew dressing to complete it. The chunky dressing is a blend of toasted sesame seeds, cashew nuts, lime juice, oil, vinegar, onion powder, and a bit of fish sauce. The cashews are left somewhat coarse to provide a nice textural contrast.
The great thing about this salad is that many of the ingredients are simple and easy to obtain, and for those that aren't, like fish sauce, they can be omitted. As a salad lover, other recipes you will love are my colourful fonio salad, this mixed salad with wagashi, this chopped salad with chicken, or this cucumber avocado, and tomato salad.
Ingredients
The ingredients for this vermicelli salad are a blend of carefully selected ingredients with the perfect dressing to go with it. This vermicelli is made from potatoes but you can use regular vermicelli as well. All you need to do is check the time for it to get soft. Usually, you would soak it in hot water until soft but this potato vermicelli needs to be cooked.
Instructions
The vermicelli is cooked and then given a good rinse under cold water. Additionally, some oil gives it that slip, so that the noodles don't stick together.
The peas are then blanched and set aside- these should not be overcooked as they will turn mushy. With a peeler, long strips of carrots are peeled and the same is done for the cucumbers.
The red bell peppers are cut into think strips - we want most of our ingredients to have a similar shape to the vermicelli (long strips). This is purely for aesthetics and you can decide to cut them in any shape want. Cut the garlic chives diagonally.
For the salad dressing, some sesame seeds are toasted and crushed along with roasted salted cashew nuts. However, if you only have unsalted cashews then that is fine too. You will only need to make up for the lack of salt. Apart from that, some lime juice, vinegar, as well as onion powder, vegetable oil, and a bit of fish sauce for that extra kick.
Substitutions
- Noodles - finding it difficult to get Vermicelli? You can use noodles to recreate this recipe and it will still be a very good salad. Just make sure not to overcook your noodles.
- Peanut butter or groundnut paste - if you don't have accesss to cashews or they are just too expensive to buy, you can make your salad dressing using a bit of peanut butter/ groundnut paste or roasted peanuts/groundnuts.
- Garlic chives - instead of these you can use regular chives or any other herbs of choice.
Variations
- Green beans - these legumes fit perfectly into this salad. You will simple need to blanch them in some salted water and then leave to cool before adding that to the salad.
- Pickled onions - these provide a fantastic tart taste to salads in general and are a great addition to this vermicelli salad.
- Grilled chicken - for those wanting a more filling salad, you can add some grilled chicken to this salad.
Storage
This salad is so good, there will probably be none leftover by the time you are done. If you do however want to store it in the fridge then do so for a maximum of 3 days. My, advice? Eat it fresh, that's the best way.
Potato Vermicelli Salad
Ingredients
- 100 grams potato vermicelli approximately
- 2 tablespoons green peas frozen or fresh
- garlic chives
- 1 small red bell pepper sliced thinly
- 1 large carrots peeled into long strips
- 1 medium cucumber shredded and water squeezed out
- black pepper to taste
- handful roasted cashews
- 2 tablespoons white sesame seeds
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- few drops fish sauce optional
- lemon or lime juice
- onion powder to taste
- salt
- 1 tablespoon vinegar red wine vinegar or other vinegar
- ½ teaspoon ginger grated
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.
- Add the vermicelli to the water and cook for about 5 minutes or until soft.
- Rinse under running water to prevent the vermicelli from sticking and then drain.
- Mix the vermicelli with the vegetables and add a pinch of salt and some black pepper.
- Add the sesame cashew dressing to the vermicelli salad and enjoy.
Sesame Cashew Dressing
- Toast sesame seeds in a pan over medium heat until the seeds start to pop or start to get fragrant.
- Using a mortar and pestle, crush the seeds until almost fine.
- Add the cashew nuts and crush coarsely.
- Add vegetable oil, red wine vinegar, fish sauce, onion powder, and salt. You want a thick and somewhat viscous consistency for this dressing. It should not be runny. You can however adjust this according to your preference.
Video
Notes
- To get a lot of water out of the cucumbers, sprinkle some salt on them and then leave that to sit for about 10 minutes. Squeeze the water out.
- If your peas are frozen, you can steam them until cooked or you can just pour some boiling hot water on them and leave them in the water for about 10 minutes before taking them out.
- Remember if you are using thinner vermicelli, you may need to only let them soften in hot water and may not need to cook them in boiling water. Refer to the instructions on the package.
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