Salads are a common part of the diet of Southeast Asians, but the salads are often different from what most of us might imagine. It is very common to dress all sorts of foods with a highly flavored mixture that contains sweet, sour, salty, and spicy tastes. The dressing used in this salad could be adapted to many other salads as well.
Ingredients
For Making the Dressing
- 5 oz Lime Juice
- 3 oz Fish Sauce
- 3 oz Palm Sugar, granulated
- 1 oz Garlic Cloves, minced
- 5 Thai Chiles, minced (if unavailable, substitute 2 serrano chiles)
- 1 tsp Salt
- 4 oz Peanut Oil
For Making the Salad
- 3 lbs Green Cabbage or Napa Cabbage, shredded thin
- 2 lbs Poached Chicken, torn into shreds
- 8 oz Carrots, cut julienne
- 8 oz Cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut julienne
- 1 bunch (about ¾ cup packed leaves) Mint, chiffonade
- ½ bunch (about ¼ cup packed leaves) Cilantro, minced Dressing, as needed
- 8 oz Dry Roasted Peanuts, crushed
How to Make It
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For Making the Dressing
- In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the dressing except the peanut oil and whisk together to combine well.
- Whisk in the peanut oil, and set the dressing aside to allow it to infuse. For Making the Salad
- Combine all of the ingredients except the dressing and peanuts in a mixing bowl, and mix thoroughly.
- Dress the salad with just enough dressing to coat all of the ingredients just before serving, and then place on a plate topped with the roasted and crushed peanuts.