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

Grilled Asparagus Salad

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