"kilikini" > wrote in
:

> It's getting really hot outside and I'm not exactly in the mood to do
> much cooking. So, I thought about what I felt like eating and BING!
> I can always make a shrimp pasta salad - which I love, but I'm getting
> really tired of the way that I make it and was looking for a twist on
> it that I haven't thought of yet. I've Googled and most seem to have
> many of the same ingredients that mine does. Anyone have any good,
> interesting recipes?
>
> This is what I usually do: shell pasta, mayo, celery, dill, lemon
> juice, diced onion and I sometimes add peas and/or crab.
>
> Boring! Help me perk it up, please. Ideas?
>
> kili
>

Here is a south-east asian-type salad that my wife really loves. It is a
great picnic dish. You can take it to the ballpark in a small cooler and
spend the money you save not buying over-priced hotdogs on over-priced
beer to wash it down instead.

I like to use 8" long Japanese wheat noodles, sold around here as
tomoshiraga somen, but any type of noodle would do. When I say ground
spices, you can either do them in the mortar and pestle or in a spare
coffee grinder you keep for spices. It's much better to buy them whole
and grind them when you need them.

8<----------------------------

Yam Vietnam

½ tsp. coriander seeds, ground
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. fresh black pepper, ground
3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. dried chili pepper, ground
1 lb. pork from loin chops.
1 lb. largish salad-sized shrimp
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
1 tsp. fresh mint, torn into little pieces
3 green onions, chopped
¼ cup chopped cilantro
½ lb. oriental noodles

Slice the pork into thin strips about an inch or so long, half an inch
wide, and an eighth of an inch thick.

Cook the pork over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, in a wok or a
skillet, using a little sesame oil.

Cook the noodles according to the directions on the package.

Combine the sugar, salt, vinegar, lime juice, onions, cilantro, and
spices in a bowl. Add the pork, shrimp, cucumber, and noodles and toss.
Adorn with mint and serve.

If you're not going to serve it right away, save adding the shrimp until
you're ready.

May be chilled for a couple of hours, but serve it soon, and not cold.

8<----------------------------

Mark.

--
While I'll admit that anyone can make a mistake once, to go on making
the same lethal errors century after century seems to me nothing short
of deliberate.--V.