Refreshing and Easy Vietnamese Summer Salad with Banana Blossom (Gỏi Bắp Chuối)

Refreshing and easy Vietnamese summer salad with banana blossom (Gỏi Bắp Chuối) and a sweet and spicy dressing.

I currently have an abundance of Vietnamese herbs in the garden. It’s that time of year when the Vietnamese coriander (rau răm) and spearmint (húng lủi) grow like wildfire. To quickly use them up, I’m making a refreshing summer salad using banana blossom as the main vegetable and tossing it together with a handful of fresh Vietnamese herbs for an authentic herbaceous kick.

Of course, you can’t have a Vietnamese or Asian salad without the crunch and contrasting textures. In goes the fried shallots and toasted peanuts. Don’t go skipping the toasted peanuts as they are a must for all Vietnamese salad, unless if you’re allergic and might possibly die.

This salad is dressed with the mother sauce of Vietnam, a sweet and savory dressing made with fish sauce, water, sugar, lemon juice, garlic, fresh chili peppers red chili peppers, and my mother-in-law’s secret ingredient, coconut juice.

You can enjoy this light and fresh authentic Vietnamese salad on its own or add proteins such as shredded chicken, thinly sliced pork belly, shrimp and/or tofu for a heartier option.

Lastly, for those who want to make it into a full meal, add rice noodles.

Recipe below. Enjoy!

Bắp Chuối is a large purple flower that grows at the end of a banana cluster. Its tightly packed petals are neutral in flavor and are mostly used in Southeast Asian cuisine, either cooked or raw.

A slicer that looks like vegetable peeler on crack

Vietnamese coriander (rau răm) and spearmint (húng lủi) explained.

Ingredients: fried shallots, freshly sliced banana blossom in lemon water, toasted peanuts, sliced onion in iced water, Vietnamese coriander and spearmint leaves

Refreshing and Easy Vietnamese Summer Salad with Banana Blossom (Goi Bap Chuoi)

Serves 3-5

Ingredients

Salad

• 1 banana blossom
• 1 lemon
• Half white or yellow onion
• 1 cup Vietnamese coriander leaves (Rau Răm)
• 1 cup spearmint leaves (Húng Lủi)
• 1 cup fried shallots
• 1 cup toasted crushed peanuts

Salad Dressing

• 1 cup Vietnamese fish sauce dipping sauce (Nước Mắm Chấm)

Instructions

1. Remove the 2-3 rough outer leaves of the banana blossom, and slice off the pointy tip. Use a mandolin or one of those large hand-held old school Vietnamese slicers that looks like a vegetable peeler on crack. You can also use a knife but it is not recommended, as the slices will have inconsistent thickness, which will adversely affect texture. Thinly slice the banana blossom, starting from the tip end until are dangerously close to slicing yourself on the root end. Transfer sliced banana leaves to a large bowl of water. Squeeze lemon into the water to prevent the banana blossom from darkening and set aside.
2. Thinly slice the onion using the same method as the banana blossom to keep the thickness consistent. Transfer the onion slices into an iced water bath to remove the strong onion smell and crisp up the texture. Set aside.
3. Make sure to wash the Vietnamese coriander leaves and spearmint leaves thoroughly, especially if they are fresh from the garden. Caterpillars particularly love spearmint. A few tablespoons of vinegar in the water helps purge caterpillars and other insects. Triple and quadruple check the bottom of the leaves, where to love to hide.
4. If you don’t already have toasted peanuts on hand, get raw peanuts (without peel) and dry toast them in a pan until golden brown. Set aside to cool and then roughly crush them with a mortar and pestle. You can also put them into a ziploc bag and gently crush them with a rolling pin or anything heavy. You want coarse pieces of peanuts so avoid over crushing.
5. Drain dry the banana blossom, onion, Vietnamese coriander, and spearmint in a salad spinner. Transfer to a large serving platter. When ready to serve, toss the salad together with the fish sauce salad dressing, a little at a time to your liking. When in doubt, it's best to under dress the salad. You can always add more dressing later. Finally, top with crushed peanuts and fried shallots. Tadaaaa. To make the salad more filling, add boiled proteins such as chicken, pork belly and shrimp. You can also add in thin rice noodles to make it a complete meal.

Refreshing and easy Vietnamese summer salad with banana blossom (Gỏi Bắp Chuối) and a sweet and spicy dressing.