michelle picker cooks

Fifi made this delicious southern Vietnamese green mango salad. The recipe, from KOTO a culinary journey through Vietnam by Tracey Lister & Andreas Pohl, includes sliced beef but is also delicious without.

In a bowl combine 2 shredded green mangoes, 100g (3 oz) of bean sprouts, 4 thinly sliced red Asian shallots, I thinly sliced and de-seeded long red chilli, 2 minced garlic cloves, a handful of roughly chopped coriander (cilantro), and 3 tablespoons of chopped roasted unsalted peanuts. If you’re planning to include beef, heat some vegetable oil in a frypan and cook a 300g (10½ oz) trimmed piece of beef fillet until browned on all sides and just medium rare. Remove from the pan and allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing very thinly. Add the beef slices to the salad. For the dressing, combine 120g (4¼ oz) of caster sugar with 100ml (3⅓ fl oz) of lime juice and 3 tablespoons of fish sauce (Vietnamese fish sauce is milder than Thai – I recommend Viet Huong Three Crab Fish Sauce). Stir until the sugar has dissolved then pour the dressing over the salad ingredients and gently toss. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of fried shallots over the top (you can buy these ready to use from Asian stores) and serve.