A Delicious Summer Salad
I love a garden tomato salad with cucumber and onion, and this Vietnamese Tomato Salad doesn’t disappoint.
There a couple of ingredients that make this salad a little different from my usual Tomato, Cucumber and Onion Salad–fish sauce and fresh fennel.
What Makes this Salad Vietnamese
Fish sauce!
Fish sauce is a popular ingredient in Southeast Asian cuisine, especially in Vietnam. It is a briny, earthy-tasting fermented sauce made with anchovies and sea salt. It gives a recipe that hard-to-describe umami flavor. But it can quickly overpower a dish so use it sparingly. A little goes a long way.
The two brands I like best are Red Boat and Three Crabs.
What’s in it
- sugar
- fresh lime juice (from about 3 limes)
- fish sauce (Red Boat or Three Crabs brand)
- a small thinly sliced fennel bulb
- an English cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced into half moons
- a small red onion, thinly sliced (about 1/4 cup)
- tomatoes, cut into small wedges
- freshly ground black pepper
- fresh cilantro
- salted dry-roasted peanuts, chopped fine
How to Make a Vietnamese Tomato Salad
- Place the sugar, lime juice, fish sauce and 1 Tablespoon of water in a small bowl.
- Whisk mixture until sugar is dissolved.
- In a large bowl, combined the fennel, cucumber, red onion, tomatoes, cilantro and black pepper.
- Add 1/2 cup of dressing and toss the salad to combine.
- Taste the salad and add additional dressing if desired.
- Top the salad with dry-roasted peanuts before serving.
Other Favorite Summer Salad
Vietnamese Tomato Salad
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice from about 3 limes
- 1/8-1/4 cup fish sauce Red Boat or Three Crabs
- 1 small fennel bulb thinly sliced
- 1 English cucumber halved lengthwise, thinly sliced into half moons
- 1/4 small red onion thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 pounds tomatoes cut into small wedges
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped cilantro
- 1/3 cup salted dry-roasted peanuts chopped fine
Instructions
- PLACE sugar, lime juice, fish sauce and 1 Tbsp. water in a small bowl. WHISK until sugar is dissolved.
- In a large bowl, COMBINE fennel, cucumber, red onion, tomatoes, cilantro and black pepper.
- ADD 1/2 cup dressing and TOSS salad to combine. TASTE the salad and ADD additional dressing if desired.
- TOP with dry-roasted peanuts before serving.
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