Vietnamese Ham Salad
Indulge in the vibrant flavours of our tantalising Vietnamese ham salad. Featuring savoury five spice tofu, crisp carrot, and refreshing white radish, all brought together with a bold fish sauce dressing. A delightful blend of textures and tastes awaits and no cooking required!
Why You’ll Love Vietnamese Ham Salad
Don’t we all just love a no-cook salad recipe? Just prepare all your ingredients and toss with a homemade dressing. This is such a great recipe to make if you happen to have some Vietnamese ham left over.
The combination of fresh carrot and white radish adds a satisfying crunch to every bite, enhancing the salad’s texture.
The fish sauce dressing adds a savoury, umami-rich element that ties all the flavours together and provides a traditional Vietnamese touch. We love fish sauce so much we also made a chilli soy dressing and a tamarind nam jim.
The addition of the five spice tofu was our spin on lacing the salad with those lovely flavours of cinnamon, cloves and fennel.
Tossed together with the Vietnamese ham and you have a strong flavour profile that is familiar and comforting. You will no doubt be craving for more in the end!
What Is Vietnamese Ham?
Vietnamese ham (cha lua) is made of pork, potato starch, garlic, pepper, fish sauce and sometimes sugar. The pork is pounded into a paste, then wrapped very tightly into a cylindrical shape with banana leaves and boiled.
It is often used as a filling in banh mi sandwiches or as an ingredient in various Vietnamese dishes, including salads and noodle soups.
What Does Vietnamese Ham Taste Like?
Vietnamese ham has a mild, slightly sweet, and savoury flavour. The seasoning typically includes ingredients like fish sauce, sugar, and pepper, which give it a subtle umami taste.
The texture of the Vietnamese ham is similar to regular ham as it is soft and smooth. However, Vietnamese ham has a little bit more bounce.
Do I Have to Cook Vietnamese Ham?
The Vietnamese ham is already boiled, so no further cooking is required. Just like you would with ham, you can eat it as it is.
Recipe Overview
Flavour/Texture: Tastes a little like a banh mi without the bun! The flavours are immediate and so delicious. Umami, salty, with a hint of heat from the chilli and added freshness and crunch from the raw vegetables.
The five spice adds a surprising layer of flavour that complements incredibly well with the Vietnamese ham. Meanwhile, the fish sauce dressing binds all the elements together, making it so good you can pretty much just have it on its own.
Ease: Crazy easy! Salad with no cooking required is simply the best. Just slice and toss, and you’re away!
Time: 20 minutes is all it takes to put this Vietnamese ham salad together.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make Vietnamese ham salad:
Vietnamese ham: You can find cha lua in most Asian supermarkets, especially if you head over to a typically Vietnamese neighbourhood. They are located in the fridge and are usually vacuum-packed. If you’re lucky, you can find fresh ones in the local Vietnamese delis.
Five spice tofu: Also found in Asian supermarkets in the fridge section where all the tofu are kept. Also usually comes in vacuum-packed packaging. All pre-marinated and ready to go!
Carrot and white radish: These are the fresh elements of the Vietnamese ham salad. Just peel and shred both the vegetables to give it a coleslaw feel.
Chilli: A nice touch of heat that adds an added layer of depth.
Cilantro and scallion: Can’t have an Asian-inspired salad without adding freshly chopped coriander and scallions.
Soy sauce: Adds saltiness and umami flavours to the fish sauce dressing.
Rice wine vinegar: A great way to balance out the flavours of the dressing. Slightly sweet and not overly tart, rice wine vinegar is a fantastic ingredient for Asian salad dressing recipes.
Fish sauce: Really important to use good fish sauce when you’re consuming it as it is. A good Vietnamese brand would be best.
Variations and Substitutions
Pork alternative: If you don’t eat pork, you can substitute the ham with a steamed beef cold cut called “cha bo”. Similar to the ham, it is made with ground beef with spices and also wrapped in banana leaf and steamed or boiled.
Shredded chicken or even shrimp would make a delicious protein substitute.
Five spice tofu replacement: If you’re not a fan of five spice or you can’t find five spice tofu, just use regular firm tofu. The flavours in this recipe are bold and will easily compensate for the lack of five spice.
Spiciness: If you don’t like spicy foods, you can eliminate the chilli altogether. Alternatively, you can reduce the heat by scraping away all the seeds before adding them to the salad.
Nuts and seeds: If you’d like to ad a little crunch to the salad, add peanuts, cashews, almonds, sesame seeds and/or sunflower seeds.
Additional herbs: Apart from cilantro (coriander), you can also add other Asian style herbs such as Thai basil, mint and even a some thinly sliced curry leaves.
Fish sauce alternative: If you’re wanting to keep this salad dressing strictly vegetarian, try our ginger soy dressing or spicy palm sugar dressing.
Instructions
Step by step instructions for how to make Vietnamese ham salad:
Remove the Vietnamese ham from the packet and discard the banana leaves. Slice it to a width of about 0.5 cm and then into thin strips.
Slice tofu into thin strips about the same width as the ham.
Shred peeled carrots and white radish into long strips.
Remove the seeds of the chilli and finely slice into long strips.
Roughly chop cilantro and scallion leaves.
How to Make the Fish Sauce Dressing
Mix the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, olive oil, fish sauce and sugar together.
Crush the garlic and add to the mixture.
Mix until well combined.
How to Assemble the Salad
Add all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
Add the fish sauce dressing and toss.
Serve.
How to Make This Salad Perfectly [Expert Tips]
Even slicing: It helps to slice the Vietnamese ham and five spice tofu to about the same width. The same goes with the carrots and white radish to provide the perfect mouthful and even spread of all ingredients.
Dress later: If you’re thinking of packing this salad up for work lunch or perhaps a picnic, prepare the dressing in a jar and just add it when you’re ready to eat. This way, it won’t turn into a soggy mess overnight or during transportation.
Serve fresh: This salad is best enjoyed fresh after it is dressed, so serve it immediately after preparing for the best taste and texture.
Great Mains for This Salad
What to serve with Vietnamese ham salad? Try these delicious main dish recipes:
Frequently Asked Questions
Five spice tofu is pressed or firm tofu that is marinated and baked in five spice.
Five spice is a mixture of 5 powdered spices which consists of cinnamon, cloves, fennel, peppercorns, and star anise. It is extremely popular in Chinese cuisine and is a versatile spice.
You can find five spice tofu in the Asian supermarkets in the fridge section. It is darker in colour compared to regular tofu so should be easy to spot.
Yes you can. Slice and chop all ingredients and mix them together. Make the fish sauce salad dressing separately and only dress when you’re ready to eat.
We love this Asian inspired salad recipe as it draws on our Chinese and Vietnamese heritage. And being able to use traditional and everyday Asian ingredients to make a modern-day salad is such a thrill! We hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we do!
More Asian Salad Recipes
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Vietnamese Ham Salad
Ingredients
Salad
Salad Dressing
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 garlic, crushed
Click on the toggle below for conversion to US Cooking Units.
Instructions
Salad
- Remove the Vietnamese ham from the packet and discard the banana leaves. Slice it to a width of about 0.5 cm and then into thin strips.
- Slice tofu into thin strips about the same width as the ham.
- Shred peeled carrots and white radish into long strips.
- Remove the seeds of the chilli and finely slice into long strips.
- Roughly chop cilantro and scallion leaves.
Salad Dressing
- Mix the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, olive oil, fish sauce and sugar together.
- Crush the garlic and add to the mixture.
- Mix until well combined.
Assembly
- Add all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the fish sauce dressing and toss.
- Serve.
Notes
- If you don’t eat pork, you can substitute the ham with a steamed beef cold cut called “cha bo”. Similar to the ham, it is made with ground beef with spices and also wrapped in banana leaf and steamed or boiled.
- If you’re not a fan of five spice or you can’t find five spice tofu, just use regular firm tofu. The flavours in this recipe are bold and will easily compensate for the lack of five spice.
- If you don’t like spicy foods, you can eliminate the chilli altogether. Alternatively, you can reduce the heat by scraping away all the seeds before adding them to the salad.
- It helps to slice the Vietnamese ham and five spice tofu to about the same width. The same goes with the carrots and white radish to provide the perfect mouthful and even spread of all ingredients.
- If you’re thinking of packing this salad up for work lunch or perhaps a picnic, prepare the dressing in a jar and just add it when you’re ready to eat. This way, it won’t turn into a soggy mess overnight or during transportation.
Nutrition
*Disclaimer: Nutritional information provided is an estimate only and generated by an online calculator.
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Vietnamese Ham salad is delicious I tried with a bowl of soup. Dinner sorted.
LOL! Great idea! Glad you enjoyed it.
Brought this one to a bbq with friends and it vanished in no time. Such a lovely crunchy summer salad and substantial enough for a meal too. Love the vietnamese flavours in it!
That’s so cool! Thanks for the feedback. Always good to know our salads are enjoyed by all.
Oh my, this is my kind of salad dish! Everything in it looks delicious and it’s a healthy meal that everyone will gonna love and enjoy! Totally love this1
Awesome! Thanks Amy
We needed an appetizer salad for our dinner party last night and this Vietnamese ham salad was just perfect! The rich flavors of the ham and the 5 spice tofu really made this salad an unforgettable dish!
Aww thanks! Glad it made for a good dinner party!