An incredibly flavourful Asian salad with traditional Chinese and Vietnamese ingredients. This Five-Spice Tofu Salad with Vietnamese Ham is positively lip smacking and moreish!
Why I Love Five Spice Tofu Salad with Vietnamese Cha Lua
When I created this salad, I wanted quintessential Vietnamese flavours and textures.
So, the vegetables are shredded to mimic the pickled vegetables that often accompanies Vietnamese dishes, use of fish sauce and of course the cha lua.
The addition of the five spice tofu was my spin on lacing the salad with those lovely flavours of cinnamon, cloves and fennel. When Phen tasted the salad, she was surprised how she could taste the five spice and how it all intertwined so well.
She said this was like a banh mi without the bun!
What is Five Spice Tofu?
Five spice tofu is pressed or firm tofu that is marinated and baked in five spice.
What Is Five Spice Made Of?
Five spice is a mixture of 5 powdered spices which consists of cinnamon, cloves, fennel, peppercorns, and star anise. It is extremely popular in Chinese cuisine and a versatile spice.
I love this tofu. Although when I fed some to Phen, she made a face and told me she wasn’t a fan. She gave me a dubious look as to whether it would work in the salad but curious at the same time.
I buy the pre-marinated ones from the supermarket. There’s really no need to make your own.
For you tofu lovers, we have a coupleof tofu salads you may like: Tofu Puff Salad with Snake Beans and Peanut Butter Dressing and Tofu Skin Salad with Cucumber and Cauliflower.
What Is Vietnamese Ham or Cha Lua?
Cha lua is a Vietnamese ham or sausage made of pork, potato starch, garlic, pepper, fish sauce and sometimes sugar.
The pork is pounded into a paste, then wrapped very tightly into a cylindrical shape with banana leaves and boiled.
My first encounter with cha lua was when I moved to Melbourne and had my very first banh mi (Vietnamese baguette sandwich with meats, pate, and pickled vegetables).
When I bit into the crunch of the baguette and tasted that pork….. o.m.g……. so delicious.
Even more exciting was when I discovered it was a prominent ingredient in a lot of Vietnamese dishes. Best of all, I can just pick one up from the supermarket and have it any time I want.
Do I Have to Cook the Cha Lua?
The cha lua is already boiled so no further cooking is required. Just like you would with ham, I eat it as is.
How to Make Five Spice Tofu Salad with Vietnamese Cha Lua
How to Prepare Fry the Wonton Skin
One of my favourite uses of wonton skin, is not to make wontons.
Whoever thought to cut them into strips and then deep fry them, I’d love to give them a big hug. So clever and so easy! I like slicing them about 1 cm in width and then putting them into a saucepan of hot oil on medium heat for about 5 seconds.
I like folding my strip in a V shape so when it cooks, it generally stays in that shape. They turn brown quite quickly so do watch them. Season with salt and set it aside. They make the best crunchy toppers for almost anything!
How to Prepare Five Spice Tofu Salad
Remove the Vietnamese ham from the packet and discard the banana leaves.
I always slice off the end as its not perfectly shaped. My daughter always waits patiently for that bit and devours it in seconds! Then slice it to a width of about 0.5 cm, lay the cut cha lua flat on the chopping board and cut into thin strips.
With the five spice tofu, slice them into thin strips too.
With a mandolin or a serrated peeler, shred the peeled carrots and white radish or daikon. Make sure you shred them as long as possible.
With the zucchini, I’m looking for a different texture from the carrot and white radish.
So, I decided I would ribbon them instead to resemble fat noodles. Peel the zucchini as I think the skin is a little too bitter for this salad. Then with the peeler, slowly peel off long ribbons from one end to another.
With the chilli, we are not looking for a spicy salad. Just a hint of heat to elevate the flavours. Cut the chilli in half. Set the second half aside for the dressing. Then slice the chilli lengthwise on one side to open it up.
With your knife, scrape off the seeds to help reduce the spiciness. Feel free to leave it if you do like the heat. Then lay the chilli flat on the chopping board and slice into thin long strips.
With the spring onion or scallion, chop only the green tops.
Roughly chop the leaf part of the coriander.
Apart from the deep-fried wonton skin, mix all the ingredients together.
How to Make Fish Sauce Dressing
Mix the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, olive oil, fish sauce and sugar together.
Crush the garlic and add to the mixture.
With the remaining chilli, do the same as above. Cut it down lengthwise on one side and scrape off the seeds to reduce the heat. Add the chilli to the mixture.
Mix it all very well. Leave it for 30 minutes before serving so that the garlic and chilli infuses the dressing.
How to Assemble Five Spice Tofu Salad
Mix the dressing throughout the mixed salad ingredients. Then sprinkle the top of the salad with the deep-fried wonton skin and season with pepper.
For this tofu salad recipe you will need a shallow bowl as the dressing is of a watery consistency, so you need a serving bowl that will catch all the liquid.
We love this Asian inspired salad recipe as it draws on our Chinese and Vietnamese heritage. And being able to use traditional and everyday Asian ingredients to make a modern day salad is such a thrill! We hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we do!
That’s all!
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Recipe
Vietnamese Ham Salad
Ingredients
Salad
Salad Dressing
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 garlic, crushed
Click on the toggle below for conversion to US Cooking Units.
Instructions
Salad
- Remove the Vietnamese ham from the packet and discard the banana leaves. Slice it to a width of about 0.5 cm and then into thin strips.
- Slice tofu into thin strips about the same width as the ham.
- Shred peeled carrots and white radish into long strips.
- Remove the seeds of the chilli and finely slice into long strips.
- Roughly chop cilantro and scallion leaves.
Salad Dressing
- Mix the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, olive oil, fish sauce and sugar together.
- Crush the garlic and add to the mixture.
- Mix until well combined.
Assembly
- Add all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the fish sauce dressing and toss.
- Serve.
Notes
- If you don’t eat pork, you can substitute the ham with a steamed beef cold cut called “cha bo”. Similar to the ham, it is made with ground beef with spices and also wrapped in banana leaf and steamed or boiled.
- If you’re not a fan of five spice or you can’t find five spice tofu, just use regular firm tofu. The flavours in this recipe are bold and will easily compensate for the lack of five spice.
- If you don’t like spicy foods, you can eliminate the chilli altogether. Alternatively, you can reduce the heat by scraping away all the seeds before adding them to the salad.
- It helps to slice the Vietnamese ham and five spice tofu to about the same width. The same goes with the carrots and white radish to provide the perfect mouthful and even spread of all ingredients.
- If you’re thinking of packing this salad up for work lunch or perhaps a picnic, prepare the dressing in a jar and just add it when you’re ready to eat. This way, it won’t turn into a soggy mess overnight or during transportation.
Nutrition
*Disclaimer: Nutritional information provided is an estimate only and generated by an online calculator.
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