Bún thịt nướng: Rice Vermicelli Bowls

My first date with my husband was at a Vietnamese restaurant in the city. Ever since, I've loved Vietnamese food. Our favorite dish at this particular spot is still bún thịt nướng or rice vermicelli bowls.

This dish is composed of a base of half rice vermicelli noodles and half chopped lettuce (typically romaine). The bowl is topped with cucumber, picked carrot and daikon (white radish), shallots, chopped basil, mint, and cilantro, chopped peanuts, and a protein--often pork, but my two favorites are shrimp or Vietnamese egg roll, in which they simply chop two pork-stuffed egg rolls on top of your bowl. The whole bowl is dressed with a liquid composed of fish sauce, vinegar, lime juice, garlic, and red pepper flakes.

As Stefon would say, this dish has everything: savory, meaty, fresh, crunchy, soft, tangy, sweet. It satisfies on many levels. It's officially become one of my crave meals.

I followed this fantastic recipe posted on Allrecipes.com. Better than the restaurant's version, my husband said!