cook: asian noodle bowl

For whatever reason, I do not make good meatballs. I had 80/20 ground pork, to which I had added spring garlic, onion powder, lemongrass, fish sauce, soy sauce, a bit of chopped cilantro and mint, tamarind and Palm sugar. But I overworked (don't do what I did) the meat when mixing, and then the sugars burnt when I was frying the meatballs in coconut oil. Sigh.                              

The noodle bowl was salvaged by the rest of the ingredients: chopped cilantro and mint. Thai basil leaves. Sliced jalapeños. Shredded iceberg lettuce. Pickled daikon and carrots. Cucumbers, de-seeded and cut into chunks. A couple of leftover broiled shrimp which I tossed in sweet chili sauce.          

And mustn't forget vermicelli rice noodles which I boiled for 4 minutes and then shook in the colander to drain all water.           

Lastly I made a dressing of fish sauce, lime juice, Sriracha, and sliced Serrano peppers and a bit of water. Safeway didn’t have Thai chilies.            

I didn't artfully arrange or compose the salad....

But once we mixed and tossed it all together with our chopsticks, it was delicious especially because of the holy basil. Next time THOUGH I will marinate and grill fatty pork shoulder instead of meatballs. Maybe some day I'll attempt meatballs again.