By Andrea Nguyen
After my family fled Vietnam in 1975 and settled in California,we took in American holidays with gusto. My sisters and I studied recipes in cookbooks,magazines, and newspapers, trying to understand our new situation. My frugalmother clipped coupons and roasted free turkeys for years. One Thanksgiving,she admitted that she wasn’t fond of its dryish meat. Uh-oh, we were trying tofit in as best we could, despite the fish sauce vapors in our kitchen and my dadharvesting fresh banana leaves from the front yard with a machete.
To have Thanksgiving without turkey seemed un-American atthe time. But mom had had enough. She instead roasted big chickens stuffed withsticky rice seasoned by cognac, shiitake mushroom, thyme and butter (see therecipe in Into the Vietnamese Kitchen,
the rice chapter). Roasted chestnutswith butter and cilantro was her go-to side.
We all gave her Viet-Franco-American approach the thumbs up,and thereafter, more Viet foods began appearing on our Thanksgiving menus. Forexample, charcuterie, salads and soups flavored with fish sauce preceded themain course. Tiny wedges of homemademoon cake, prepared for the Mid-Autumn Festival (an Asian harvestcelebration), were part of the closing parade of sweets.
When my siblings and I got married in the 1990s, we switchedto having traditional Thanksgiving meals with our own families or in-laws. Theday after, we gather at my parent’s home in San Clemente for a Vietnamese feast.My mother sets out old school favorites as well as modern dishes created here.We gobble it all up in gratitude for life’s many blessings.
This cabbage, fennel andcashew salad echoes the new traditions that we’ve carved outfor ourselves. A rendition of the recipe was included in Sunset magazine’s November 2012 issue as part of a collection of fusionThanksgiving foods. Online at the magazine’s site, my Vietnamese-American salad recipe is part of a post on 20cultural fusion dishes. Sunset's recipes are full of inventive ideas so check them out.
(Of course, you don't have to save this salad just for the holidays. It's easy and tasty, great with a sandwich or bowl of soup.)
Most of us havedeveloped non-traditional Thanksgiving traditions. What’s your culinary mash-up?
RECIPE
Vietnamese-American Thanksgiving Salad
Yield: Serves 4to 6
Ingredients
- 1 or2 Thai, Fresno or serrano chiles, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- ½ teaspoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 to 2 ½ tablespoons fish sauce
- 5 tablespoons unseasoned Japanese rice vinegar
- 1 carrot, cut into julienne or matchsticks
- 1 fennel bulb, cored and thinly sliced (1 cup / 115 g total)
- 2 ½ cups packed / 200 g shredded red cabbage
- 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint and/or basil (Thai or Italian) leaves
- ⅔ cup toasted cashew halves and pieces
Instructions
- Use a mortar and pestle to mash the chile, garlic, ½ teaspoon sugar, and salt intoan orange-red paste. Scrape it into a bowl and add the remaining teaspoon ofsugar, fish sauce and rice vinegar. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt. Tasteand tweak to create a spicy, tart, savory, lightly garlicky dressing.
- In a large bowl, combine the carrot, fennel, cabbage, herb, and cashew. Pourthe dressing over the salad and toss well, either with tongs or better yet,with your hand in a gentle massaging motion. The vegetables will soften slightlybut remain a little crunchy. Taste and adjust the flavors to your liking,balancing the sour, sweet, salty, and spicy. Transfer to a serving plate,leaving any unabsorbed dressing behind, and serve.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Maggie
I love non-traditional traditions! Oxymoronic, but makes sense, combining tried and trusted techniques and flavour combinations with what happens to be locally available. It's what keeps cooking fresh and exciting - the food on our table is constantly evolving and adapting. That is the story of the world's great cuisines.
Maggie
Nothing to do with Thanksgiving, but today, I'm making Teriyaki salmon using non-traditional pomegranate syrup in the marinade. I think the sweet tanginess would be very complementary to the oily fish and saltiness of the soy sauce.
Sophie - dinnersforwinners
Haha I loved the image of your dad and the machete! What a colorful description of your childhood holidays. We are not crazy about dry turkey meat here, either. But wow, stuffed with sticky rice and cognac? I'd hit that! This salad sounds so wonderful... I love the addition of fennel. I hope that my Thanksgiving traditions will always include fish sauce, because it's my favorite (my sister-in-law thinks its gross, but she has no idea how often she's eaten it at my house!. Hip-hip horray for fusion holiday food!!
Andrea Nguyen
Nice idea with the pomegranate syrup in lieu of mirin!
Andrea Nguyen
The sticky rice stuff is a family favorite. You can also just bake it in a pan and let the top get slightly crusty.
I was standing in the market one day wondering about Viet uses for fresh fennel... it's really nice.Bethany
My family is Laotian and lives in Texas. All of the grocery stores there make it ridiculously easy to get a free turkey around Thanksgiving time, so we always end up with at least 3. My grandmother always makes turkey laab, turkey eggrolls, and dried shredded turkey (in the style of that dried shredded pork that looks like hair). I love what my grandmother does with turkey leftovers way more than I like turkey.
Laura
I love your comments about "fish sauce vapors in the kitchen" and "Dad harvesting banana leaves from the front yard with a machete." I'm still giggling!
I miss my Chinese-born grandfather's delicious Thanksgiving turkey with its soy sauce-based basting sauce and his rice, mushroom, and Chinese sausage stuffing. I wish that I had taken the time to ask him how he made it. My non-Chinese husband absolutely loves eating Thanksgiving with my side of the family because all of us eat the delicious dark meat, and he doesn't have to share any of that "dry white meat" with anyone because my family won't touch it! My mom also makes turkey congee (Chinese rice porridge) the next day, which is really all that I have room for in my stomach after Thanksgiving dinner!Lori
I am going to serve this salad for Thanksgiving! Great idea. Thanks. :O)
Andrea Nguyen
Wow, what great ways to use up turkey. Your grandmother's resourceful uses for Thanksgiving bird leftovers is stunningly fabulous. I type that in all honesty. The dried shredded turkey hair -- I know exactly what you're talking about. We call it cotton pork in Vietnamese because it's texturally like cotton fibers.
Andrea Nguyen
Those were good but trying times when we first arrived in the U.S. One of the selling points of the first house that my folks bought were the non-fruiting banana trees out in front. It was a bit of Vietnam that they held on to.
Thanks for sharing your family's Thanksgiving traditions.Andrea Nguyen
My pleasure, Lori! Enjoy.
saVUryandsweet
awesome timing of this post. so i somehow am hosting thanksgiving this year. for me, (the first-born in the states and ut) thanksgiving is all about the turkey, the rest of the family doesn't care for it and we ALMOST ditched the bird for bun bo hue but i've convinced mom otherwise. i'm creating my vietnamese thanksgiving menu right now and definitely considering adding a goi, and perhaps a canh. wish me luck! have a wonderful thanksgiving with your families 🙂
Kathy
Actually, this is more of a question than a comment. I am preparing to make this dish for a crowd- can I make it ah ad of time? If so, how far ahead?
Andrea Nguyen
You can prep all the components hours in advance, if not the day before. Then toss them together at the end.
