Vietnamese Seafood Salads
A light healthy salad recipe from South East Asia….
Asian salads are my all time favourite bar none, I love them. Like their soups they make you feel as though they are good for you because they are so light, fresh and fragrant. This recipe comes on the back of the noodle dish I made the other day. Tiger prawns aren’t cheap so I used half in the curry and kept the other half for my supper when I knew I would want something light after a hard day’s graft in the back garden!
So here’s what I knocked up if you pardon the expression (for my English readers)…
As well as the prawns I had some pak choi left over, these are great in salads so are crunchy beansprouts and the leftover peanuts from the chilli paste. I’ve written before about a similar salad but using a different dressing which showcased a restaurant dish at the time. I also mentioned using grapefruit in Asian salads, it’s a must. Use pomelo if you can get them but pink grapefruit does the trick. If you want to go Vietnamese then load your salad with plenty of fresh herbs, only use mint, coriander (cilantro) dill and/or Asian basil (not Italian/regular basil) and chives, the more the merrier as far as I’m concerned.
Asian salad dressings are light and designed to bring the other flavours together. The dressing I used for this isn’t a stand out dressing in the way a vinaigrette can be, the dressing is used more as a means of adding moisture and serving as a backdrop to the other flavours going on in the salad. This salad only works if you get the flavours going on before hand, keep it fresh, that really, truly, honestly is the key. Yes I’m a chef and the ones you see on TV bang on about freshness and half the time it’s a lot of bull but with this it’s true. Trust me, I’m a chef!
All I did was squeeze the juice from a fresh lime, mixed it with a couple of tablespoons of fish sauce, sugar to taste and some sliced fresh green chillies. That’s it. You need the chillies in there, give it a go, you need to suffer a bit to truly appreciate these salads!
Miles,
I risk to speak generally but I don’t think we Brits have the grasp of cold foods from Asia. I have a couple of books by Fuschia Dunlop (who will one day be my wife, oh yes) that have whole chapters dedicated to cold street foods and it’s certainly something I need to educate myself in.
Your salad looks so good. Definitely on the list.
GDave
May 31, 2009 @ 11:17 pm
GDave,
Quite true, Fuschia Dunlop does indeed write well on cold sechuan dishes and like the Thai’s they can be very spicy.
Look forward to reading about your efforts!
Miles
June 1, 2009 @ 9:13 am
Miles,
Pak choi is bok choy, right? Chinese cabbage? This looks so good and incredibly refreshing. Do you know if prawns are high in iodine? I’m thinking they would be and I’m looking to add a little more iodine to my diet some way, so this “recipe” of yours looks perfect. I’d rather do it this way than to shake cheap iodized salt on my food.
Wow, what a healthy meal. I’m definitely up to trying this. Thanks!
GDave,
Will you be blogging about your courtship with Fuschia? I agree with Miles — I’ll be looking forward to hearing of your efforts. Will Gentleman’s Relish be part of your plan?
Melissa
June 1, 2009 @ 8:30 pm
Melissa,
Yep, one and the same, as for the prawns I’m not sure to be honest. The fish sauce would replace the salt if that helps?
I like to leave the science bit to you
Miles
June 1, 2009 @ 8:51 pm
Miles,
I’ve never had an Asian salad but I do eat Pomelo’s so perhaps I should try the two combined. Must say that I approach chillies the way an early human might have approached a hungry sabre toothed tiger…. but the green ones are mildish right?
Cid
June 1, 2009 @ 9:48 pm
Cid,
Colour doesn’t come into it with chillies, it’s a vast subject so go with a bog standard Kenyan one from a supermarket if you’re not sure. These salads do need some heat though, it’s really what makes them.
Miles
June 1, 2009 @ 9:54 pm