Seafood | Fairbanks Fantastic Foods and Feasts

Yum Woon Sen - A Versatile Spicy Thai Noodle Salad

Recipes, Salads, Seafood, White wine pairings 2 Responses »

Aug 062010

Yum Woon Sen is one of my favorite summer salads, especially when the weather is hot and sticky. It was one of my go-to dishes when we were traveling in Thailand. The lime and lemongrass flavors are so refreshing in this salad that I knew that I wanted to start serving this at home. The salad can be served hot or cold but I much prefer the cold version in the summer time.

Yum Woon Sen

The noodles in this salad are bean threads, usually made from mung beans. Bean threads are also called cellophane noodles because they become translucent when cooked. High in protein, this salad is low in fat and doesn’t weigh you down. A perfect salad to eat when you need the nourishment but it is too hot to have a big appetite.

There are lots of versions of Yum Woon Sen but the common ingredients are bean threads, shrimp, ground chicken or pork, hot peppers and vegetables dressed with lemon/lime juice, lemon grass and fish sauce. This version has many of the ingredients of the classic Yum Woon Sen that you can find all over Thailand with a few modifications for American convenience and the addition of tomatoes. Tomatoes are frequently part of Yum Woon Sen served in Thai restaurants in the US but rarely seen in the street stands of Thailand. If I have ripe tomatoes in the garden, I love them in Yum Woon Sen.

Don’t be intimidated by the rather lengthy list of ingredients, this salad comes together very fast, especially with a food processor to grate the vegetables. Continue reading »

BBQ Salmon in February!!!

Recipes, Red Wine Pairings, Rosé wine pairings, Seafood, White wine pairings 1 Response »

Feb 212010

Happiness is standing in my front yard, barbecuing salmon over mesquite charcoal in FEBRUARY! We aren’t talking cheating BBQ with propane on a covered deck, we are talking about being out in Seattle sunshine in February. I cleaned out the grill and got it set up with the last bits of mesquite from last summer. It started right up and as my coals heated, I soaked the hickory chips. I lightly sprayed my fish grill with Pam for outdoor grilling. I rubbed a crushed garlic clove over the salmon, sprinkled some mesquite seasoning on top and squeezed a wedge of lemon. As soon as the coals were hot, I spread them to the outside edges of the grill. I spread the cup of water soaked hickory chips over the coals then placed the salmon in the center of the grill. I quickly covered my trusty weber grill, but the yard streams of hickory smoke escaped from the vent to scent my yard with summer.

Hickory smoked salmon

Checking the grill every 15 minutes, I removed the salmon after an hour. I didn’t have time to do a traditional smoked salmon. This dish was designed to give potent hickory smoke flavor while slow grilling the fish. I wanted the smoky flavors to infuse the salmon.

I was a little skeptical about February salmon so I only purchased half a fillet of this wild Atlantic salmon. What a mistake, this was sooo tasty! I would have been very happy with this as my main dish.

Wine Pairings

The classic rule is white wines for fish but salmon gives us lots of possibilities to break the rules! Pinot noir is another classic pairing with salmon but barbecued salmon is great with Syrah! Add a bit of pepper and smoked salmon is a great pairing for a big Syrah. I also like salmon with the versatile rosé. We paired it that particular night with a french style rosé from Lullaby Winery out of Walla Walla, Washington. Vivian thought the salmon was too intense for the this old world style rosé but once the rosé had opened up a bit, I enjoyed it with this tasty salmon.