The Food Blogger’s Challenge food this week is rice noodles. I LOVE rice noodles. I use them quite frequently as they are an excellent vehicle for sauces. They have little flavor so they absorb whatever sauce you put on them.
I had a couple of small pieces of albacore left over and knew they wouldn’t be enough on their own so I thought they would go well with the noodles. I made a basic sauce and then decided that I would try lettuce wraps for the first time. The garden is starting to come in – at least the lettuce and spinach so I like to use the produce when it is fresh. Hubby grows beautiful romaine lettuce so that is what I used. Obviously you can use chicken or beef or make them vegetarian. That is the beauty of this kind of dinner.
Lettuce Wraps with Rice Noodles and Albacore Tuna
2 small albacore tuna fillets
1/4 cup oyster sauce
2 TBS soy sauce
1 heaping TBS granulated sugar
1 set rice noodles (most bags I buy have three sets in them)
1 small onion
handful cashew nuts
6 large lettuce leaves, washed, dried and trimmed
Put the rice noodles in a large bowl. Heat enough water to cover the noodles to boiling. Pour the boiling water over the noodles and let sit for at least 15 minutes until the noodles are soft and translucent. Drain the noodles in a colander and return to the bowl.
Combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar in a small sauce pan. Heat through thoroughly. Add the tuna.
Cook on each side for about two minutes. We prefer our tuna still rare in the center. If you prefer yours cooked through, keep it in the sauce until it is well done.
Chop the cashews, slice the tuna and slice the onion.
Pour about a tablespoon and a half of the cooking liquid into the rice noodles and mix well.
When you are ready to make the wrap you place a lettuce leaf down, add some of the noodles, the sliced onion, the tuna, the nuts and then drizzle a bit more of the cooking sauce on top. Roll them up like a spring roll and serve.
These were so tasty! A bit messy but really good. I’ll be making variations on them again as long as I get lettuce from the garden. The flavors went together very well and the nuts added a lovely crunch. They were very easy to make and perfect for a hot summer night.
Be sure to check out what the other Food Blogger’s made with rice noodles.
