cucumber
This salad is a meal in itself. The combination of hot and cold ingredients and the contrast between crunchy vegetables and soft noodles and meat make this a favorite dish throughout Vietnam, where it is eaten primarily in the summer.
Salads are important and unique part of the Vietnamese cuisine. The Vietnamese treasure fresh, crunchy vegetables such as lettuce, cucumbers, and carrots, and seasonal specialties. Simple but tasty dressings enhance the flavors of each ingredient, and salads are often garnished with fresh mint leaves or fresh coriander. Meat, seafood, or noodles may be added as well, making a salad as light or as substantial as the cook desires. Sesame seeds and fresh coriander dress up a dish of shrimp salad.
These sandwiches are equally delicious without the cold cuts. Instead of meat, use additional vegetables, such as canned asparagus spears, pickled beet slices, and cut marinated artichoke hearts. Plan plenty of time when you arrange these sandwiches so that each one will be attractive.
These rice and vegetable rolls are the Korean version of the Japanese treat called sushi. It is fun to work out combinations of fillings using tofu and colorful vegetables. With white rice and blackish green seaweed called nori, try to use the other Korean food colors—yellow, red, and green—in the fillings of the rolls. Rice rolls are a popular picnic food in Korea, and they make a good finger food for parties and festive occasions.
In addition to the traditional sweets eaten on Hina Matsuri (Girls’ Day), chirashi-zushi has become a popular dish for girls and their friends to share at their doll-viewing tea parties.
