Description
A refreshing and light crab noodle salad featuring delicate rice noodles, fresh white crabmeat, crunchy vegetables, and a zesty, tangy dressing with lime, tamari, and toasted sesame oil. Perfect for a quick, healthy meal or an elegant seafood dish.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients
- 100g fine rice noodles
- ½ courgette, coarsely grated
- 100g fresh white crabmeat
- ½ cucumber, halved lengthways, deseeded and thinly sliced
- 1 small red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 4 spring onions, thinly sliced
- Handful coriander leaves
- Handful mint leaves, torn if large
Dressing
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp tamari (wheat-free alternative to soy sauce)
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp soft brown sugar
- Juice and zest of 1 lime, plus wedges to serve
Instructions
- Prepare the dressing: In a large bowl, combine the rice wine vinegar, tamari, toasted sesame oil, soft brown sugar, lime juice, and lime zest. Stir well to dissolve the sugar and blend the flavors. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
- Soak the noodles: Pour freshly boiled water over the rice noodles and let them soak for 5 minutes until soft. Drain and rinse thoroughly under cold water to stop the cooking process and cool them down.
- Combine noodles and courgette: Add the drained noodles to the bowl with the dressing along with the coarsely grated courgette. Stir gently to mix and allow the mixture to cool completely.
- Add remaining ingredients: Fold in the fresh white crabmeat, sliced cucumber, finely chopped red chilli, spring onions, coriander leaves, and torn mint leaves. Use clean hands to gently toss everything together ensuring the crab meat remains intact.
- Serve: Divide the crab noodle salad between plates, drizzle over any leftover dressing from the bowl, and serve with lime wedges on the side for extra zing.
Notes
- Use fresh white crabmeat for the best flavor and texture, ideally picked from cooked crab.
- Soaking the rice noodles instead of boiling prevents them from becoming mushy.
- Tamari is a gluten-free soy sauce alternative that adds depth without wheat.
- Adjust the amount of chilli depending on your preferred spice level.
- This salad can be served immediately or chilled for an hour for a more melded flavor.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and consume within 1 day for best quality.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: No-Cook
- Cuisine: Asian
Keywords: crab noodle salad, rice noodle salad, seafood salad, gluten free salad, Asian salad, light lunch, healthy seafood
