Vermicelli salads are quick and easy to toss together. They have all of the produce you enjoy in a salad, with vermicelli instead of lettuce. I use brown rice vermicelli, so it's gluten free and not as indulgent as pasta. It's almost like an Asian-style pasta salad. Vermicelli salads take no time at all to toss together. They're also incredibly filling and a great way to use up a ton of produce all at once. Today, I made this vermicelli salad with daikon, yellow summer squash, red bell pepper, green onion, sprouts, and fried tofu. Although you can easily mix and match in your own favorite produce.
You can even make it simpler by grating the fruits and vegetables, if you don't want to have to individually slice them. I like to put mine through a rotary cheese grater. There's something satisfying about biting into something massive and being forced to make these big glutinous bites. Especially when it's into something like summer squash that has an almost meaty consistency. But isn't in any way trying to masquerade as meat. You could, of course, just cut the pieces smaller. I also sometimes make these without tofu and just make a predominantly fresh salad.
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Variations of Daikon Vermicelli Salad
Vermicelli salads are one of my favorite quick and easy recipes to throw together. I add a plethora of fruits, vegetables, sprouts, and nuts. It's a great way to utilize seasonal produce or use up that bell pepper that's been hiding in the back of the refrigerator. I'll oftentimes toss in a fun dash of avocados and citrus, if I have some lying around. Although fresh produce is a great way to splurge on some new ingredients that you don't always know what to do with.
This Daikon Vermicelli Salad consists of daikon, red bell pepper, yellow summer squash, green onion, tahini, tamari, rice vinegar, fried tofu, and sprouts.
Add about 4 inches of water to a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
Cook vermicelli according to the manufacturer's instructions.Vermicelli cooks very quickly. I tend to add the vermicelli and then immediately remove it from heat. Then, go on to prepare the produce. Merely sitting in the once boiling water is sufficient enough soften it enough to eat without overcooking.
Fry Tofu
While the pot is boiling for the vermicelli, drain the water out of the tofu and cut into cubes.
Wrap in paper towels to absorb the moisture.It's important to absorb as much water out of the tofu as you can. Oil is less dense than water, so the molecules repel one another. With cold ingredients, this causes separation. When you're frying at high temperatures, though, this can cause boiling hot oil to spray back at you.
Meanwhile, preheat oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
When the skillet has preheated and the majority of the water has absorbed into the paper towels, carefully add the tofu to the skillet. Fry until golden brown. This should take about 2-4 minutes. Rotate until all sides are evenly fried.
Remove from heat and wrap again in paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
Assemble Salad
Mince and chop all of the produce and add to a large bowl.
It can help to mix the tamari, rice vinegar, and tahini together in a separate bowl and then mix in. Although this isn't explicitly necessary as long as the tahini doesn't clump together.
Add in sprouts and tofu afterwards. Sprouts go bad much faster than the other ingredients, so I don't mix them in until serving and store them separately.
Serve immediately or chill in the refrigerator for about an hour. I'm quite fond of this dish at room temperature or mixed in with salmon or scrambled eggs. It keeps incredibly well in the refrigerator, though. There's enough sodium and acidity in the mix to last for about a week without the produce browning. The liquid will start to separate and just need stirring before serving again.
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