Spicy Vietnamese Vegetable Salad
with a Fresh Lime – Cilantro Dressing
Recipe courtesy of Doreen Fang
Ingredients
Dressing
5 Tbsp fish sauce (Nuoc mam, nuoc nam or nam pla) Three Crabs Brand
¼ cup *Light palm sugar, packed (can substitute with golden brown sugar)
1 tbsp Golden brown sugar
1/3 cup Fresh lime juice
1-2 tsp Thai chilies, minced with seeds (this can get very spicy so adjust accordingly
2 cloves Garlic, smashed
1/3 cup Cilantro, loosely packed and fine chop
Vegetables
1 cup Celery, cut diagonally on a bias, 1/8”
1 cup Carrots, shredded (some markets have pre-shredded carrots)
1 cup Red cabbage, thinly sliced
1 cup Persian cucumbers, cut into ¼’ rounds
½ cup Daikon (Japanese white radish) coarsely grated
½ cup red radish, cleaned, trimmed and paper thin slices
3 cups Green beans, cut diagonally on a bias, ½ ” pieces
8 oz Roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise, remove seeds and pulp, cut into medium dice
1 cup Cilantro, leaves only
3 each Green onions, cut into 1 ½ “ pieces, then thinly julienned lengthwise
½ cup Peanuts, roasted and salted, chopped
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Note: Palm sugar can be very hard. To soften it, microwave it in 10 second intervals at 50 percent power. This will make it easier to break up/chop up and measure.
Preparation
Dressing
In a small mixing bowl, add all the ingredients and whisk till all the sugar has dissolved. This can be made the day before covered and refrigerated. Allow to come to room temperature and whisk before serving.
Vegetables
Prior to cutting the green beans, blanch them in boiling salted water, about 2 minutes, making sure to maintain the crispness. Drain and cool in an ice water bath, drain again.
After cutting the green onions, put them in a bowl of ice water so they can curl up. Drain and place a paper towel to dry before using.
In a large bowl, add all of the vegetables, most of the peanuts and add the dressing and toss to combine and cover all the vegetables with the dressing. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Make a nice mound of the salad on a large platter and finish garnishing with the remaining peanuts.
Note: This is also great with chicken or grilled steak.
Servings: 4-6