Banana blossom (or banana flower) is popularly used as a type of vegetable in Vietnam, especially in the Central. You find this flower as a side vegetable that goes with a lot of dishes in Hue cuisine like Bun Bo Hue, Bun hen (clam noodle), com hen (clam rice), and spring rolls. It’s considered to be a cool vegetable that is preferred to consume in the summer.
Banana blossom salad (nom hoa chuoi or goi hoa chuoi) is a pretty well-known dish in Vietnam and there’re a variety of recipes for it like banana blossom salad with chicken, banana blossom salad with shrimp or with tofu. The recipe introduced below goes with shrimp and pork, and originates from the North, pretty simple and exotic.
INGREDIENTS
1 star fruit
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt 1 chicken breast
2 lemons
1 banana flower
100g bean sprouts
80g roasted peanuts
2 bunches rau răm
2 tsp roasted Sesame seed
1 lime
1 medium rump steak (around 200g) or
12 medium-sized shrimp or
200g pork mince
Marinade:
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 garlic clove
1 shallot
1 tsp chili sauce
2 pinches 5-spice-powder
200ml nước mắm pha
METHOD
Wash the star fruit, slice it thinly, put it into a shallow dish, sprinkle with sugar and let marinate for 15 minutes.
Wash the meat under cold cold running water and dry with kitchen paper. Put in a pan with a little water and the salt and steam at low temperature for 15 minutes until juices run clear. Let cool down until cold enough to handle and pull apart into strips along the meat fibre.
Fill a salad bowl with cold water and juice the lemons into the water. Remove the outer leaves from the banana flower. Cut ½ inch off the tip and the bottom of the blossom. Now remove the softer leaves and put them into the acidulated water immediately. Remove all the pistils; actually, they are the future bananas. If you find it difficult to remove additional leaves, cut the bottom of the blossom until they come off easily. Leaves close to the blossom heart are difficult to remove; just leave the heart whole and drape the previously torn off larger leaves back around it to form a complete blossom.
Now use a sharp knife or mandoline to cut the banana flower in very thin strips across and return these immediately into the acidulated water; they take on an appalling brownish colour once exposed to air. Let them sit in the water for 15 mins – not longer or they’ll go soft – and then rinse them under cold running water.
Wash the bean sprouts, and put them into a bowl together with the banana flower strips, coarsely chop the peanuts and add, wash rau răm, pull of the leaves and add together with the sliced star fruit and the chicken meat.
Mix all liquid ingredients in a bowl, peel and finely chop the garlic clove and the shallot, and add together with the spices all to the salad. Let sit for roughly 15 minutes until the flavours have developed. Serve on dishes, sprinkle with sesame seed and add lime juice to taste.
Option 1:
Substitute rump steak for chicken breast. Cut across into thin slices and marinate in the dressing for two hours, then briefly grill on a charcoal grill and fry in hot oil. Grilling + frying the beef: The idea behind this is added a smoky flavour to the beef before frying it. This will also make the salad more tasty.
Option 2:
Substitute shrimps with the meat, mix with the aromatics, fry in a pan at higher speed and then cook 3-4 minutes until just done, turning them twice.
Option 3:
Substitute pork mince, spice with the aromatics, fry at higher heat in oil while breaking up the meat with a fork, then add to the salad.
Source:vietnamese.asiastreetfood.com
