Vietnamese Cuisine with Tram – Goi Tom ( pickled salad with scampi and chicken)

serve : 4

Ingredients

400 gr crunchy salad of your liking (red/green cabbage, carrot, fennel), thinly slices (2mm)
½ red onion, cut in thin rings (0,2mm) and pickled (see pickle recipe)
1 grapefruit, white skin removed (bitter), cut in 2cm pieces (keep the juice)
1 pk sesame seed rice paper/prawn chips for deep frying (or buy ready chips
Oil for deep frying 

Dressing for salad
Pickled water from onion rings
1 tbsp fish sauce (or vegan fish sauce)
Juice from grapefruit / ½ lime
1-2 gloves garlic, finely chopped
1 thai chili, finely chopped
Pickle water for onion rings
2  tbsp sugar
4 tbsp white vinegar
½ ts salt

Pickle water for salad
0,5dl sugar
1 dl vinegar
2dl water

Protein (vegetarian: tofu/paneer)
150 gr chicken breast (veg: paneer)
150 gr scampi (veg: avocado)
2-3 gloves garlic (not for veg version)
Garnish (do not mix):
2 tbsp fried shallot / onion
2 tbsp sesame seeds (black/white)
2-3 tbsp herbs of your liking (mynt, coriander, thai basil)
3-4 tbsp peanuts, roughly crushed

Method 

• Cut and mix all crunchy salad together in a big bowl
• Make pickled water and pour over the salad, toss/mix and chill for 30 min or until use
• Make pickle for onion rings and pickle separately for 30 min
• Cut grapefruit in 2 cm pieces for later use, keep juice
• Make salad dressing just before serving (use pickled water + juice from grapefruit)

Chips for deep fry

• Deep fry sesame rice paper (broken in 6 pieces) in frying oil until blown up and floating (shall not turn brown, stay white) – do not use too high heat

Protein: 

• Boil water with salt (1L water/2 tbsp salt) and add crushed garlic gloves  

• Simmer chicken breast for 10-15 min depending on breast size

• Take out the chicken, chill and cut in 1x1cm pieces 

• Add frozen scampi (deveined and deshelled) to the same water, simmer for 5 min, chill and cut in smaller 1x1cm pieces

Assembling the salad & serving

• • Pluck herb leaves (remove hard stem), cut thinly and set aside
  • Crush roasted peanuts and set aside
  • Squeeze out liquid from salad and put it in a new clean bowl (discard liquid)
  • Add salad dressing and add the protein 
  • Add herbs and mx everything well

• Top salat with peanuts, sesame seeds, deepfried shallot/onion (Maarud or other Asian brand)

• Divide salat in a small bowl with chips aside or for nice plating: put 3 chips on a plate, add salad on top of each chip, sprinkle with garnish

For vegetarian option 

• Cut firmed tofu/paneer in 2cm slide, sprinkle with salt and pepper
• Panfry until golden/brown
• Chill and cut later in serving pieces (1x1cm cubes)
• Add avocado (1×1 pieces)
• Use vegan fish sauce for vegetarians in salad dressing