Vietnamese Green Mango Salad with Dried Shrimp
VIETNAMESE · VIETNAM

Vietnamese Green Mango Salad with Dried Shrimp

Nộm xoài xanh với tôm khôSalad

Sour, crunchy green mango tossed in a salty-sweet fish sauce dressing with fried shallots and pungent dried shrimp. It's a salad that resets your mouth and demands another bite.

Total
30 min
Heat
2/5
Serves
4

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Flavour profile

Heat
Funk
Acid
Richness
Umami
  • Crunchy
  • Funky
  • Herby
  • Sour

The real deal

Region
Vietnam, a nộm-style green mango and dried shrimp salad eaten from the Mekong Delta to Hanoi.
Technique
The dressing is nước chấm style: fish sauce, lime, sugar and chilli pounded, then tossed through green mango with fried shallots and dried shrimp.
We kept
Sour green mango, pungent dried shrimp, fish sauce, mint and coriander, fried shallots, no sugar-syrup shortcut.

Ingredients

4 Serves

salad

  • 2 · firm and sour, cut into matchsticks
  • 40 g · rinsed, soaked, then fried
  • 3 · sliced thin
  • 2 tbsp
  • 15 g · leaves picked
  • 10 g · leaves picked and chopped

Dressing

  • 2 tbsp
  • 2 · juiced
  • 1 tbsp
  • 2 · pounded

Garnish

  • 40 g · optional · crushed

Method

  1. Rinse the under cold water, then soak them in a splash of warm water for 10 min until softened. Drain and pat dry.

    Don't discard the soaking water — it's intensely savoury and can loosen the dressing if it's too thick.

  2. Peel and slice the as thinly as you can — a mandoline is fine here.

    Slicing evenly keeps the shallots from burning before they crisp.

  3. Heat 2 tbsp in a small pan over medium heat. Fry the shallots until deep golden and crisp, about 3 min. Lift out onto paper towel and season with a pinch of salt.

    They keep cooking after they leave the oil — pull them when they're just turning golden or they'll go bitter.

  4. In the same pan over medium heat, fry the soaked for 1 min until crisp and fragrant. Set aside.

    Watch closely — dried shrimp turn bitter fast once the oil gets too hot.

  5. Peel the and cut the flesh into matchsticks about 0.5 cm thick. Firm green mango should feel hard and smell sour.

    If the mango is even slightly ripe it will be soft and sweet — taste it first; the salad needs the sourness.

  6. Pound the with the in a mortar until it's a rough paste, then stir in the 2 tbsp and juice of the . Taste: it should be sharply sour, salty and a little sweet.

    Dried shrimp are salty, so keep the fish sauce slightly restrained until they're in the bowl — you can always add more.

  7. Pick the leaves, roughly chop the , and crush the if using.

  8. In a big bowl, toss the mango matchsticks with the herbs, half the fish sauce dressing, the fried shrimp and half the crispy shallots. Toss gently — you want every strand coated but still crunchy.

    Toss just before serving; the lime and salt soften the mango if it sits too long.

  9. Tip onto a platter, spoon over the rest of the dressing, scatter over the crushed peanuts and the remaining crispy shallots, and serve immediately.

    Cold plates keep the salad crisp — chill them if you have time.

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