Seasonal Pantry: Healthy rice noodle dishes for Chinese New Year's

Last week, Seasonal Pantry explored bean thread noodles, sometimes called cellophane or glass noodles. This week, it's rice noodles, which come in an enormous variety without standard names. The best way to navigate the huge selection at Asian markets is by looking at the noodles themselves rather than relying on their names.

The easiest rice noodles to work with are probably the dried ones, which include thin noodles generally called rice vermicelli, and rice sticks, which can vary in width from that of linguine to that of fettuccine.

Dry rice paper wrappers are similar in that they all need to be rehydrated before using.

Fresh rice noodles are also popular and readily available. Some come in thick sheets and must be cut once you get them home. Others, like fresh round rice noodles, quite common in Malaysia, come in various widths and are found in the refrigerated sections of Asian markets. If you've ever had that Malaysian specialty, laksa, you have likely had fresh rice noodles. If you haven't, you'll find my recipes for it at “Eat This Now” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.

Today's recipes are easy to make at home even if you do not have an extensive Asian pantry. To explore Asian noodles in depth, you might want to take a look at “Asian Noodles” by Nina Simonds (Hearst Books, 1997, $21) and “Noodle” by Terry Durack (SOMA, $27). Once you have a good supply of herbs, spices and other staples, no Asian noodle dish is too complicated for the home cook.

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Rice paper wrappers are kissing cousins to rice noodles, made similarly but shaped differently. Here they are combined with rice vermicelli to make a familiar Asian appetizers that most of us rarely prepare at home. But if you have the ingredients in your pantry, they are easy to make and quite delicious.

Fresh Shrimp Rolls

Makes 12 rolls

- Spicy Sweet Dipping Sauce

2 tablespoons fish sauce

- Juice of 1 lime, plus more to taste

1 serrano or jalapeño, seeded and minced

4 teaspoons sugar, plus more to taste

For shrimp rolls:

3 ounces rice vermicelli

- Boiling water

12 medium shrimp

1 carrot, peeled and grated

1/2 cup Thai basil, shredded (omit when not in season)

1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

- Inner leaves of 1 medium or 2 small heads of butter lettuce, rinsed and dried

12 8-inch rice paper wrappers

First, make the dipping sauce and set it aside.

Make the lime dressing by putting the fish sauce, lime juice, serrano or jalapeño, and sugar in a small bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves, taste, and correct for acid and sugar. Set it aside.

Use your hands to break the vermicelli into 3-inch pieces, put the broken noodles into a medium bowl, cover with boil water by at least 1 inch, and set aside to soften.

Bring a small saucepan half full of water to a boil, add the shrimp, and drain the moment they turn pink. Let cook, peel, remove the central vein and cut in half lengthwise. Set aside.

When the noodles are fully softened, drain thoroughly and return to a dry bowl. Add the carrots, basil, if using, and cilantro, pour the lime dressing over everything, and toss very gently.

Remove and discard the central stems of the lettuce if they are particularly large.

To assemble the rolls, arrange all the ingredients near a work surface.

Fill a wide shallow pan with very hot water and set it on top of a tea towel next to your work surface.

Dip a rice paper wrapper into the water, leaving it until it softens, about 3 to 4 seconds.

Set it flat on your work surface. Cover the bottom third with lettuce and top it with about 1/4 cup of the noodle mixture. Set 2 pieces of shrimp on top.

Roll the sheet upwards, folding in the sides as you do, so that it forms a lose but well-formed cylinder. Set aside and continue until you've made all the rolls.

Set on a basket or platter and enjoy right away, with the dipping sauce alongside.

Variations: Vegetarians can replace the shrimp with tofu, prepared however you prefer it. The shrimp may also be replaced with thinly sliced cooked pork.

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Viruses this season have been brutal and long lasting. If you're nursing someone who is suffering, this soup will revive them, at least for a bit. If you're the one felled, get someone to make it for you. And if no one in your world is sick: Congratulations! You can simply enjoy the soup for what it is, delicate, spicy, delicious, and healthy.

Thai Noodle Soup with Chicken

Serves 4 to 6

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1 small leek, white part only, thoroughly cleaned and thinly sliced

1-2 serranos, seeded and minced

2 stalks lemongrass, white part only, peeled, bruised and thinly sliced

1 pound cooked chicken (see Note below), in bite-sized pieces

- Kosher salt

2 cans (14 to 15 ounces each) coconut milk

2 cups homemade chicken stock

4 kaffir lime leaves

5 thin slices fresh ginger

2 tablespoons fish sauce

- Juice of 1 lime, plus more to taste

- Sugar, as needed

1 pound fresh round rice noodles or 6 ounces rice sticks, refreshed in boiling water until tender and drained

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Pour the sesame oil into a medium saucepan set over medium low heat, add the leek and serranos, and cook gently until wilted, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the lemongrass and cook 2 minutes more.

Add the chicken, season with kosher salt, and stir gently. Add half the coconut milk and the chicken stock, along with the kaffir lime leaves and ginger, and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Stir in the remaining coconut milk and heat through.

Add the fish sauce and lime juice, taste, and correct as needed. If it seems a tad flat, add a teaspoon or so of sugar. Taste again and if it is still flat, add a bit more sugar and more lime juice.

Divide the noodles among deep soup bowls and use chopsticks to separate them if they are stuck together.

Ladle soup on top of the noodles, garnish with cilantro, and enjoy right away.

Note: A good time to make this is when you have cooked chicken already on hand. The soup is best with thigh meat.

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Vietnamese-Inspired Noodle Salad (Bün)

Serves 4

For dressing:

5 large garlic cloves, minced

1 serrano, minced

4 tablespoons freshly grated ginger

3 tablespoons sugar

4-5 tablespoons fish sauce

3-4 tablespoons fresh lime juice

For salad:

8 ounces thin rice noodles (rice vermicelli)

- Hot water

4 cups lettuce or Napa cabbage, cut into very thin crosswise ribbons

1 cup sprouts of choice or pea shoots

4-5 scallions, trimmed and cut into very thin diagonal slices

½ cup julienned cucumber

½ cup fresh cilantro leaves

¼ cup very small fresh spearmint leaves

¼ cup very small Thai basil leaves, optional (omit when not in season)

- Meat or seafood of choice, optional (see Note below)

½ cup crushed dry-roasted peanuts

Put the garlic, serrano, ginger, sugar, fish sauce and lime juice into a bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Taste and correct for balance; cover and set aside for at least an hour and as long as several hours.

Shortly before serving, put the noodles into a medium bowl, cover with hot water and set aside until softened, about 15 minutes; drain thoroughly.

Meanwhile, put the lettuce or cabbage, sprouts or pea shoot, scallions, cucumber, cilantro, mint and basil into a large bowl and toss together gently. Divide about two-thirds of the mixture among four large bowls and top with noodles. Scatter the remaining greens on top.

Add meat or seafood, if using, scatter peanuts on top and drizzle dressing over everything, dividing it as evenly as possible. Enjoy right away.

Note: If you like, add 1 pound medium to large sautéed shrimp; rare beef, sliced thin; leftover barbecued pork, or sautéed squid to the salad before adding the dressing.

Michele Anna Jordan is author of the new “Good Cook's” series. Email her at michele@micheleannajordan.com and visit her blog at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.