Tracy Lee Karner

Lotus Pepper food truck in Providence inspires my sweet-hot-salty-sour slaw

Tracy Lee Karner
Lotus Pepper in Providence is good!

We stumbled upon the Lotus Pepper Food Truck at the Providence Flea Market a few weeks ago, which has inspired  another of my frequent and various improvisations, this time on a noodle-salad theme.  Today’s creation was a sweet-hot-salty-sour slaw (recipe below) with chilled vermicelli (follow the package directions),  and satay-seasoned chicken breast with peanut dipping sauce (recipe here).
You won’t find this on the Lotus Pepper menu. There you’ll find authentic Vietnamese food (including dishes with vermicelli). The eats are cheap, fast, fun and tasty. To locate Lotus Pepper, (they’re a food truck; they move around!) check their facebook page for daily updates.
My Sweet-Hot-Salty-Sour Slaw
You’ll want 2 cups shredded and julienned fresh veggies–whatever you have on hand. Choose any combination from:

  • Carrots; Cabbage (red or green); Sweet Peppers (red, green, yellow, and/or orange); Iceberg Lettuce; Radishes; Summer Squash; and definitely add  Onion (red, white, or yellow), halved and thinly sliced. Strive for a rainbow combination.
  • I also added julienned English Cucumber. To keep this from getting too soggy and making the salad all watery, after slicing into 2-inch julienned strips I salted them with a very light sprinkle of kosher salt and let them sit for 10 minutes. Then I wrapped them in a paper towel and squished much of the water out of them. The paper towel was wet, not just spotted with damp.
  • Toss all the veggies together into a large-enough bowl. This makes 4 servings. 

In a small bowl or jar, blend together:

  • 1/4 cup of freshly-squeezed lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons of soy sauce or tamari
  • 2 tablespoons of super-fine sugar (dissolves better than regular granulated)
  • 1 tablespoon of peanut oil
  • a dash of hot pepper flakes (suit your own heat-preference)

Pour over the slaw, toss and refrigerate until serving.
What’s your favorite street food? And do you ever try to recreate it at home? 

Tracy Lee Karner
Asian noodle lunch with satay chicken, peanut sauce and sweet-hot-salty-sour slaw

8 thoughts on “Lotus Pepper food truck in Providence inspires my sweet-hot-salty-sour slaw”

  1. This looks good, too! But I wanted to tell you that I made the Blue-Cheese Dip–a double recipe!–and you’re right…it is the best ever!
    My son-in-law actually tried to sneak some away and hide it for later.
    Next time I’ll triple the recipe!

    1. That’s great! I’m glad someone else can’t stop eating the stuff. I dare not make it too frequently…
      I can’t say exactly what about it is so addictive. It must be alchemy.

  2. Well done Tracy!!! Well, I would say ice cream. I always buy ice cream on the street. I like eating it while I’m walking. Believe it or not, I have never made ice cream but Stefano keeps asking me to make it. Time to make his dream come true? 😉

    1. Thanks Peri–I made your egg salad again this noon for lunch. Since reading your blog, I’ve been making meals with a decidedly Indian flair at least 3-4 times/month. And my husband thanks you very much.

  3. Hehe, Tracy, now and then I like and buy some “street meat”, in the best NYC tradition! Either hot dog or kebab are choices that would make me happy! 🙂

    1. There’s something about street vendors–hot dogs and kebobs are good when you buy them from a street vendor (my chef husband can hardly pass up a hot dog–but then, he’s always thinking he’s going to get a Portilla’s Vienna Red Hot, and yes, sometimes he’s a wee bit disappointed, but only a wee bit, because it is, eating a hot dog while standing on a crowded street is just fun.)

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