Vietnamese Shrimp Salad (Goi Tom)

Vietnamese Shrimp Salad (Goi Tom) is a fresh, herbaceous Asian-style slaw with fantastic texture and crunch. It’s served with a sweet, salty, and tangy dressing. Serve this healthy salad as an appetizer, side, or main dish!

Vietnamese shrimp salad is a glorious amalgamation of crispy shredded cabbage and carrots, tender poached shrimp, fragrant herbs, and crunchy peanuts. It’s served with nuoc cham, a fish sauce-based dressing that is bold yet sweet, tangy, and salty. It can be made mild or spicy to taste. This is the stuff we Vietnamese use on EVERYTHING. It’s so good!!!

I grew up eating this salad, but my mom used to make a chicken version called Goi Ga. (My parents raised five kids on a blue-collar single-family income, so chicken was a more affordable choice.) Both versions are delicious, but I love shrimp just a bit more. So, if shrimp is not your thing, chicken is a great substitute!

The salad is served undressed. You add the nuoc cham dressing, as desired, to the table. Allow the flavors to meld about 5 minutes before eating. Sprinkle the chopped roasted peanuts over the salad after you mix in the dressing (as seen in some of these images) so that you can fully appreciate the crunchiness and nuttiness the peanuts impart.

Ingredients needed:

• Shrimp—peeled and deveined shrimp are poached until cooked through. Their tenderness plays well with the crispy, crunchy cabbage and carrots. This recipe uses extra-large shrimp, but any size can be used. You only need to adjust the poaching time accordingly.
• Cabbage—I have always had the salad with regular green cabbage, but savoy or napa cabbage are good substitutes. For added color, replace some of the green cabbage with red cabbage.
• Carrots—use store-bought shredded carrots in a pinch, but they are too thick. I prefer to shred my own using a vegetable peeler to obtain thinner, delicate strips.
• Fresh herbs—a generous amount of herbs makes the salad wonderfully fresh and fragrant. I typically use all mint or mostly mint and some cilantro. I love the bright, fresh pop of flavor the mint imparts. Vietnamese coriander (rau ram) or Thai basil are also good options. Feel free to mix and match the herbs as desired.
• Onion—typically, sliced white or yellow onion goes into this salad. But for a colorful salad, I like to use red onion. If you don’t like the sharpness and bite of onions, soak the slices in cold water for 5-10 minutes for the flavor to mellow out.
• Roasted peanuts—unless you’re allergic, chopped roasted peanuts are a must-have garnish. In addition to their nuttiness, they add great texture and additional crunch.
• Nuoc cham—is made with nuoc mam, sugar, lime juice, water, rice wine vinegar, garlic, and red pepper flakes (or chili sauce). This sauce is the hallmark of Vietnamese cuisine. The star ingredient is nuoc mam, a fish sauce…but don’t let that scare you! This magical sauce adds a tremendous depth of flavor and umami. The dressing doesn’t taste like fish! It can be found in the Asian food aisle of most grocery stores. Get it at the store if you can. It’s much cheaper than online. If you want to buy online, I use this brand.

Recipe highlights:

• For the dressing, whisk together sugar, nuoc mam, lime juice, rice wine vinegar, water, chopped garlic, and red pepper flakes. Set aside.
• Season water with salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add shrimp. Cover for 2-3 minutes or until shrimp are curled, pink, and opaque.
• Transfer the shrimp to a water bath to cool. Pat dry.

• If you want to hand shred carrots, make scores down along the sides with a sharp paring knife. Run a vegetable peeler over the slits to create thin shavings.
• In a large mixing bowl or platter, layer shredded cabbage, carrots, onion, chopped mint, and cilantro. Add shrimp. Add the nuoc cham dressing. Toss. Garnish with chopped roasted peanuts.
• Refer to the recipe card below for detailed instructions.

View the how-to video or save for later with this Pinterest Pin.

How to substitute chicken for shrimp:

As I mentioned earlier, you can replace the shrimp with chicken. Use 12 ounces of poached skinless-boneless chicken breast. Hand shred and allow to cool before adding to the salad.

As a time saver, use rotisserie or leftover chicken! I have!

Recipe shortcuts:

• For the cabbage— save time and effort, use store-bought shredded cabbage.
• For the carrots—get store-bought if you don’t want to shred your own. They are typically matchstick style and too thick for my personal preference. It’s better to shred your own to make thinner shavings.
• For the shrimp—buy store-bought precooked shrimp.

How to store:

• For best quality, do not dress the salad before storing. Keep the salad dressing and the salad in separate air-tight containers. Store the salad for up to 2 days refrigerated (the shrimp gives it a short shelf-life). Store the dressing in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

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Vietnamese Chicken and Cabbage Salad

Author: Thao | In Good Flavor Cooking Method:Layering, MIxing Cuisine:Vietnamese Courses:Appetizers, Sides, Main Recipe Keys: V Vegetable P Pescatarian L Light and Healthy

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 20 minutesCook time: 3 minutesTotal time: 23 minutesServings:6 Servings

Description

Vietnamese Shrimp Salad (Goi Tom) is a fresh, herbaceous Asian-style slaw with fantastic texture and crunch. It’s served with a sweet, salty, and tangy dressing. Serve this healthy salad as an appetizer, side, or main dish!

Ingredients

• 3/4 pounds (26/30 count) extra large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 8-9 cups thinly shredded cabbage (about 1/2 of a medium cabbage)
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced sweet or red onion
• 1/2 cup loosely packed mint leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1/8 loosely packed cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts
• ice cubes and water for the shrimp water bath

Nuoc Cham Dressing:

• 1/4 cup fish sauce (nuoc mam)
• 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or garlic chili paste to taste)

Instructions

Make the nuoc cham:

1. Add all the nuoc cham ingredients to a small bowl. Whisk to dissolve sugar. Set aside for the flavors to meld.

Poach shrimp:

2. Bring a medium saucepan filled halfway with water to a boil. Season with salt and black pepper. Remove from heat. Add shrimp. Cover for 2-3 minutes or until they curl into a “C” shape and are pinkish in color.
3. Have a bowl filled with ice and water ready. Use a slotted spoon to transfer shrimp into the ice water. Leave for 5 minutes to cool and chill. Remove and pad dry. Refrigerate.

For the salad:

4. Cut cabbage into wedges and thinly slice into strips. Use a vegetable peeler to thinly shave the carrot strips. Optional: use the tip of a paring knife to make sores down the sides of the carrots, 1/5-inch apart. Then, use a vegetable peeler to shave into strips.
5. Thinly slice onion and coarsely chop mint and cilantro.
6. Assemble the salad in a large bowl or platter: cabbage, carrots, onion, herbs, and shrimp. Refrigerate if time permits. The salad is best served cold. Add nuoc cham when ready to serve. Garnish with chopped peanuts. Allow the salad to sit for about 5 minutes for the flavors to meld.
7. Makes 6 appetizers, 4 sides, or 2-3 main dish servings.

Notes

• If using different sizes of shrimp, check for doneness accordingly. Smaller shrimp require less time, while larger ones take more time to cook. It takes about 1-5 minutes for shrimp to poach, roughly 1 minute for small shrimp, and about 5 minutes for extra colossal.
• If you want to mellow out the bite and sharpness of the onion, place the slivers in a bowl of cold water for 5-10 minutes. Pat dry before use.
• If you don’t like cilantro, use all mint. Thai basil is also a good replacement.
• Variation: use 12 ounces of shredded chicken instead of shrimp.

Keywords:Vietnamese Salad, Shrimp Salad, Nouc Cham, Asian Slaw, Shredded Cabbage

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