Indulge in the vibrant flavours of our tantalising Vietnamese ham salad. Featuring savoury five spice tofu, crisp carrot, and refreshing white radish, all brought together with a bold fish sauce dressing. A delightful blend of textures and tastes awaits and no cooking required!
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.