Author Notes
A friend invited us over for a K-Mex (that's Korean plus Mexican) dinner recently, and this salad was one of the highlights of the meal (never mind that the theme was Korean-Mexican, not Vietnamese-Mexican.) It's crunchy, salty, tangy, fishy, sweet and perfumed with mint and cilantro. It's just as good without chicken as with, and if you don't have carrots, substitute daikon, or don't even sweat it. If you can your hands on the Thai variety, basil is a fantastic addition as well. —mtrelaun
Ingredients
- Vietnamese vinaigrette
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2
chile peppers, seeded + minced
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1
garlic clove, minced
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2 tablespoons
sugar (I like using brown, but white works too)
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1 tablespoon
unseasoned rice wine vinegar
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3 tablespoons
lime juice, freshly squeezed
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3 tablespoons
nuoc mam or nam pla (fish sauce)
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3 tablespoons
vegetable oil
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black pepper to taste
- For the salad
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1
medium onion, thinly sliced
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2 cups
shredded, cooked chicken
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4 cups
red cabbage, shredded, soaked, rinsed and dried (see Step 2)
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1 cup
carrot, shredded
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1/2 cup
fresh mint, chopped or torn into pieces
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1/2 cup
fresh cilantro, chopped or torn into pieces
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1/2 cup
fresh basil, chopped or torn into pieces (OPTIONAL)
Directions
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Combine chiles, garlic, sugar, vinegar, lime juice, fish sauce, and oil in a bowl. Add pepper to taste. Taste again. Every now and then I find I need to add a little more of this or that to get the right balance. Toss in sliced onion and allow to stand for 30 mn.
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Soak and rinse shredded cabbage a couple of times to remove bitterness. Taste a piece of cabbage to test. It may take more than two soak/rinse cycles to remove the bitterness. Casually dry the cabbage (it doesn't have to be bone dry, but it shouldn't be soaking wet either.)
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In a large bowl, combine shredded chicken, casually dried cabbage, carrots, mint and cilantro.
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Sprinkle vinaigrette and onions over chicken/cabbage mixture, and toss well.
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Devour!
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