Rice Vermicelli Lo Mein

As you can see, this is life-sustaining on research heavy days! Y’all would be surprised by how much research I do to write for y’all!

I always keep a fair amount of the rice vermicelli in the house, that mostly I always used when I wanted to make spring rolls. But sometimes I'd like to use them in a less work-intensive way, in particular by eliminating the need for rolling things. Spring rolls are a commitment, y’all, even after you’ve found your rhythm. Because right now, I have no time for time consuming foods, so spring rolls are out. It’s only been a couple of weeks since the school year ended and I stopped needing to facilitate remote schooling while trying to do my own homework, so recovery meals for all right now! Anyway, this is a pretty easy recipe, and it takes about 30 minutes start to finish. Sometimes I cook the noodles ahead of time, and that's a perfectly fine way to do it too. Make it work for you, not you working for it.

If you’ve got different veggies, sauces, noodles, whatever, use what you have. As ever, I am all about figuring out how to make a tasty-looking food work with what I’ve got on hand! When y’all do new stuff to this, please tell us in the comments what happened so we can eat your version as well!

Here’s what you’ll need

1 package rice noodles
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon vinegar (I used osmanthus, you could use whatever you want but rice vinegar is probably the best in terms of flavour profile)

1/2 large red onion, or one regular sized red onion, sliced into half moons
1 carrot, sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
3 tablespooons sesame oil
1 tablespoon each: sriracha (or other hot sauce), tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste

1 can white beans (or 1 1/2 - 2 cups cooked)
salt

1 tablespoon fish sauce
1/4 cup rice wine

Here’s what you’ll do

Boil a lot of salted water, then add noodles. Cook 3-8 minutes, or until done. Each type of these noodles has a different cooking time, so follow the package directions if you're not used to the ones you have before. Drain and rinse with cold water, then return to pot and toss with oil and vinegar. Set aside.

Heat a large frying pan and add the sesame oil, sriracha and tomato paste. When hot, add the onion, carrot, celery and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the veggies are well softened, then add the beans and a bit more salt. Fry these up for a few minutes, then add the noodles, fish sauce and rice wine and cook until it's done to your liking. Serve with soy sauce, fish sauce, sriracha, or whatever other sauces you like here. Serves 4.