Asian Salad Wraps

This recipe is good. SERIOUSLY good.  It is one of Emeril's recipes and he is one of my food heroes (second only to Ree Drummond, I adore that woman.) These can be served as an appetizer or a main course.

The crisp lettuce, savoury shrimp filling, delicate cellophane noodles and kicky sauce (which I completely forgot to take photos of) pair together on your palate and explode with umami*.

Emeril Lagasse, you have done it again. "BAM!"

* Umami is described as the fifth of the basic tastes and it describes food with an inherent savouriness.

Recipe adapted from Emeril Lagasse

My rating for this recipe: 5/5 (I am already dreaming of making it again)

What I changed this time: My significant other has a pretty moderate shellfish allergy so for this recipe I cut the amount of shrimp in half and replaced it with a boneless skinless chicken breast and then cooked the shrimp, half of the onions and garlic in one skillet and the chicken, along with the other half of the onions and garlic in another skillet so that I had two different meat mixtures. I also replaced the jalapeño with a squirt of Sriracha sauce, used boston lettuce because the market was out of bibb, omitted the Emeril's essence and didn't use mint in the Nuoc Cham  because I forgot to buy some.

What I will do differently next time: I will make it exactly as I did this time.

Ingredient List:

Cellophane noodles (also known as glass noodles or mung bean noodles), about 2 ounces
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon fish sauce
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 pounds shrimp, peeled, deveined, and butterflied
1/2 cup minced green onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Salt and pepper, for seasoning
Emeril's Original Essence, for seasoning
2 heads Bibb or butter lettuce, leaves separated and cleaned
Nuoc Cham
1 to 2 jalapenos, sliced very thinly, for garnish (optional)


First you boil a pot of water and once the water reaches a ful boil turn it off and soak the cellophane noodles in the water. Next drain the noodles and toss with the fish sauce and sesame oil and then set the mixture aside.

Cellophane Noodles

Noodle Mixture

While your water for the noodles is boiling add the vegetable oil to a skillet and cook the shrimp over medium heat until they pink on all sides. Then add the green onions, cook for 1 minute, add the garlic and cook until fragrant.

Next you want to make the Nuoc Cham, which is very easy because you just mix all of the ingredients together and blend them.

Nuoc Cham:

1/4 cup fish sauce

1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup finely grated carrot

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves

1 Thai bird chile, thinly sliced, or 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)

You now have all of the components for the salad wraps (go you!) and all you need to do is assemble them.

Start by plating a leaf of the lettuce, then top it with a generous amount of the noodle mixture. Place some of the shrimp mixture on top of the noodles and then drizzle with a small amount of the Nuoc Cham.