Prepare this Vietnamese noodle bowl for a refreshing dinner. Made with chicken, rice noodles, fresh herbs and raw vegetables, it’s topped with a flavorful rice vinegar dressing and served cold.
A whole meal in a bowl is an ingenious system. They are also very easy to assemble. You can assemble a bowl without any heavy lifting and there will be happy eaters at the end of your assembly line.
Here’s a riff I like to do on Vietnamese “Bún” – one of the original meals in a bowl! This is a cold salad made with vermicelli, chicken, fresh herbs and vegetables, and a tangy rice vinegar dressing.
How to make a great pasta bowl
Rice vermicelli is now available at most grocery stores, or you can find it online.
The two noodles look similar, but mung bean noodles tend to be sticky after cooking and lend themselves better to other dishes. After cooking, rice noodles break down into fine threads that are easier to pick up with chopsticks or a fork.
The meat for the buns is often grilled, but for an easy weeknight dinner I like to just cook it in the oven. First I cover the chicken in a mixture of oyster sauce and hoisin (a combo I like), then I bake it covered with foil. This will help keep the chicken moist as it cooks.
When it’s done, I quickly sear the breasts in a pan to caramelize the outside and add some burnt flavor.
By the way, if you want to grill your chicken, I recommend using bone-in skinless chicken breasts. Cook without sauce over high heat, then turn to low heat, baste with sauce and finish cooking.
The Chicken Noodle Bowls are topped with a simple ginger-spiced rice vinegar dressing and garnished with fresh mint, cilantro, scallions and chopped peanuts. (A lot of bún recipes use lime in the dressing, but I like to squeeze fresh lime on top instead.)
You get crunch and sweetness, a dash of vinegar, a soft pillow of pasta, and caramelized chicken bites—all in one bowl. This is “meal in a bowl” at its finest!
How to store Vietnamese noodle shells
This cold dish is great for meal prep. The ingredients will keep in the fridge for 3 to 5 days. Store the cooked chicken, dressing, vermicelli (toss in a little oil to keep it from drying out and sticking together), vegetables, and peanuts in separate containers or in meal prep containers.
Easy recipes for serving with pasta bowls
- Vietnamese style sticky chicken skewers
- Chicken wings with miso glaze
- Prawn spring rolls with peanut sauce
- Sweet Potato Pancake Salad Wraps
- Jamu (Indonesian turmeric ginger drink)
From the editors of Simply Recipes
Vietnamese style noodle bowls with chicken
If you need to make this recipe gluten-free, be sure to check your bottles of hoisin and oyster sauce to make sure they’re gluten-free.
This recipe calls for seasoned rice vinegar, which contains sugar and salt. If you use unseasoned rice vinegar, the dressing will taste very tart. You may need to add up to 8 teaspoons of extra sugar. Add it little by little until it tastes well balanced.
ingredients
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2 tablespoon granulated sugar, or more to taste
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1/2 Cup seasoned rice vinegar
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1 tablespoon fish sauce
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1 piece (1 inch) fresh gingercut into 2 thick slices
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1 clove Garlic, halved
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2 tablespoon Hoisin sauce (see recipe note)
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2 tablespoon oyster sauce (see recipe note)
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2 tablespoon rapeseed oil
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2 big skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1 pound)
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8th ounces rice noodles
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2 carrots, grated
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2 cups fresh bean sprouts (6 ounces)
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1 jalapeño or other chili peppercored and cut into thin slices
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2 spring onionsthinly sliced
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3 tablespoon freshly chopped coriander leaves
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3 tablespoon freshly chopped mint leaves
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1/4 Cup Peanuts, roughly chopped
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1 limequartered for garnish
method
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Make the dressing:
In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine sugar, rice vinegar, fish sauce, ginger, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until bubbles appear around the edges and the sugar has dissolved. (Alternatively, microwave in 30-second bursts until sugar has dissolved and dressing is hot.)
Remove from the stove and cool to room temperature. Using a slotted spoon, remove and discard the ginger and garlic.
Taste the dressing to flavor and add more sugar, 1/2 teaspoon at a time if you like. The dressing should have a nice balance of vinegar and sweetness.
This can be prepared several days in advance; Keep refrigerated.
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Bake chicken:
Preheat oven to 400°F. In a bowl, combine the hoisin and oyster sauce with the canola oil. Add the chicken, turning well to coat all over.
In an 8×8 baking dish, arrange the chicken in a single layer. Cover with foil and cook for 35 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the center of the breasts reads 165°F.
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While the chicken is baking, cook the pasta:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Remove from heat, add the noodles and let stand 3 to 5 minutes, or until the noodles are tender if you taste one.
Drain in a colander, rinse with cold water and shake the colander to remove excess water. (If the chicken isn’t quite done, cover the pasta with cold water to keep it from drying out. Drain before serving.)
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Roast Chicken:
Heat a large non-stick or well-seasoned cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Arrange the cooked chicken breasts in a single layer and cook 2 minutes. Turn and cook for another 2 minutes. Be careful not to burn them.
Remove from the pan and let cool slightly. Slice the chicken thinly, keeping the slices together as much as possible.
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Assemble the salad:
Divide the noodles among 4 large bowls. Top with sliced chicken, carrots, bean sprouts, jalapeno, and scallions. Sprinkle with a few spoonfuls of dressing, then garnish with cilantro, mint, and peanuts. Serve with lime and remaining dressing.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 328 | calories |
| 13g | Fat |
| 39g | carbohydrates |
| 15g | protein |
