Vietnamese Salt and Pepper Shrimp Rice Noodle Bowl (Bun Tom Xao)

This did take a while to prepare because of all the washing and cutting of the greens, making the noodles and sauce and chopping peanuts - so it's not for when you're rushed. The result was very good though I felt we could have used less greens. 4 days later I still have the salad portion while all the rest is gone.
I did the draining noodle trick and mine didn't stick together. I also made more dressing as it's my favorite part and only put in a couple slices of serrano as one of the diners can't stand eating anything hot. All around a very good dish.

I just discovered a tip to make this dish even more amazing.  I mix the liquids and serranos and let the cucumbers soak for a while in the mixture.  Even 10-20 minutes of this makes an improvement, a few hours and it's great.  The cucumbers get crunchier and more flavorful and it all just marries so well.  Love. It.

Amazing!! I actually didn't have some of the ingredients - chilis, cilantro, lettuce....but I substituted some chili paste for the chilis and did without the rest and my husband was super happy! He ate 4 servings. Definitely on our rotation now.

This has become a regular in our household. I did find that it's not the best meal for a quick cook or a mid-week rush. There are a few steps but it is well worth it!

Delicious! Followed the recipe as directed, would do it again in a heartbeat! Definitely a keeper!

Yum! Very happy with this. Made some adjustments only because I had different ingredients on hand: sauteed bok choy for lettuce and 1/2 of the shrimp for 1/2 pound of Korean fish balls. Though time-consuming to prepare (will never purchase not-deveined shrimp again, not worth the cheaper price!) was worth it. Yum, yum.

This was so good, definitely a keeper for us. I didn't have any serrano's so I just added 1/2 t. of crushed red pepper and that gave the dressing plenty of heat. Tasted like something out of a restaurant.

Great recipe - easy to put together in steps too. I mixed the sauce and prepped the vegetables earlier, and just had to cook the noodles and stir fry when it was time for dinner. Used regular basil since my store didn't have any Thai basil, but otherwise followed the directions

This was exceptional! Very flavorful. The shrimp was tasty and cooked perfectly. I used whole wheat vermicelli rather than rice. I can't wait to make this for guests!

I lived in SE Asia for two years and visit regularly. This recipe is spot on. It makes me really, really happy.

Very good recipe. I've been on a steady restaurant diet of Thai and Vietnamese for the past 6 months and this recipe is as good or better than anything I've ordered out. Will definitely make again.

Yum. Our entire family enjoyed this! It was a great blend of flavors. We replaced the serrano chiles with a small amount of sirachya.