Bún xào (Vietnamese stir-fried rice noodles)
Thin rice noodles stir-fried with bok choy, peppers and carrots in a sweet, garlicky lime sauce, then piled with fresh mint, cilantro and peanuts.
- 30 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.80 a serving
- 410 calories
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 8 oz rice noodles, thin vermicelli
- 3 tbsp gluten-free tamari
- 2 limes, 1 juiced, 1 cut into wedges
- 1 tsp chili garlic sauce
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 3 baby bok choy, sliced
- 1½ cups bean sprouts
- ¼ cup fresh mint, leaves
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
- ¼ cup peanuts, chopped
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Each serving has about 410 calories, 11 g protein, 68 g carbs and 12 g fat, and costs about $2.80 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No red bell peppers? Yellow bell peppers work.
- No shredded carrots? Carrots work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Soak the noodles in very hot tap water 3 to 5 minutes, until soft. and snip them a few times with kitchen scissors.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Timer: 4 min
Stir the tamari, sugar, lime juice, chili garlic sauce and 2 tablespoons water until the sugar dissolves.
Heat the oil in a large over high heat. Add the shallots and garlic and stir 1 minute, until at the edges.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
High heatTimer: 1 min
Add the pepper, carrot and bok choy and 3 minutes, until the bok choy stems are .
Stir-fry. Stir-frying means cooking small pieces fast over high heat in a little oil, stirring almost constantly. It moves quickly, so have everything chopped and ready before the pan gets hot.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the whole time, and the vegetables turn bright and tender-crisp in minutes.
Tender-crisp. Tender-crisp means vegetables cooked until just tender but still with a little snap. They keep their bright color and crunch instead of going soft and dull.
How you’ll know: A fork goes in with slight resistance, and the color is bright, not olive or gray.
High heatTimer: 3 min
Add the noodles and sauce and with tongs 2 minutes, until hot and coated.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
High heatTimer: 2 min
in the bean sprouts for 30 seconds, then take the pan off the heat.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
High heat
Food safety: If you’re pregnant, or cooking for small children or older people, cook the bean sprouts until steaming hot or leave them out. Raw and lightly cooked sprouts carry a small risk that rinsing doesn’t remove.
Serve piled with the mint, cilantro and peanuts, with lime wedges on the side.
Dolly’s tip: The fresh herbs aren’t just a garnish here. They’re half the flavor, so be generous.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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