« the force of memory | Main | motor vehicular breakdown »
April 6, 2008
Vietnamese Cabbage Salad 
This theoretically will serve 3-4 people as a main dish, but that hasn't been my experience. In my household, it serves 2, and is a topic of conversation for weeks afterwards.
This is based on Guilty Carnivore's Vietnamese Chicken Slaw, which I'm guessing is based on the Spicy Cabbage & Chicken Salad in Andrea Nguyen's Into The Vietnamese Kitchen.
Salad Components
1 head green cabbage, shredded
2 carrots, shredded
(instead of cabbage & carrots, I use prepared coleslaw and broccoli slaw mixes)
1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped coarsely
24 leaves spearmint
12 purple perilla leaves (these are available at a Viet grocery -- if you can't get them, just add another 12 leaves of mint)
Dressing
2 cloves of garlic, forced through a garlic press
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
Juice of two small limes (or one big lime)
3 tablespoons sugar
a dash of salt
1 and 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 thai bird chilies, minced
1 and 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon garlic chili sauce or siracha
Garnish
Handful of roasted peanuts (no skins)
First make the dressing, combining the ingredients above and giving it a taste to be sure it is as you like it. I used a Korean hot sesame oil, which just about blew my head off, so I skipped the hot peppers and hot sauce completely (and added more rice vinegar, lime & fish sauce). If you don't care for spicy hot, skip the hot stuff, and reduce the sugar to a teaspoon or less, tasting for seasoning.
If you want to be super traditional, chop the garlic & peppers, and then use a mortar & pestle to pound and mash them. The smell that come off them when they're pasty is so superior to my quick version, and it really doesn't take that much longer.
Now, to the salad. Chiffonade your herbs, and put them in a large bowl. Add cabbage & salad (or slaw mix), and toss thoroughly. Just before eating, add the dressing and toss to mix well. The salad may wilt a little -- that's no problem. Now taste it for balance of sour, sweet, salty & spicy, and transfer to a serving plate leaving any excess dressing behind. Garnish with roasted peanuts.
Posted at April 6, 2008
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://hachi.pair.com/vickijea/cgi-bin/mt4/mt-tb.cgi/560