Vietnamese | Salads | Savoury
Banana Blossom Salad
A Vietnamese shredded salad of raw banana blossom, poached chicken, and fresh herbs dressed with nước chấm.
Banana Blossom Salad (Gỏi Bắp Chuối)
A Vietnamese shredded salad built around raw banana blossom and poached chicken, dressed with nước chấm and finished with fresh herbs, peanuts, and fried shallots. The prep work is deliberate but the result is a salad with real textural range.
Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl for soaking banana blossom
- 1 medium saucepan for poaching chicken
- 1 Y vegetable peeler for shredding banana blossom
- 1 Deep fryer or deep saucepan for frying prawn crackers
Ingredients
Banana Blossom
- 1 whole banana blossom about 1kg
- 500 g banana blossom finely shredded
- 2 tsp salt for soaking water
- 1 tbsp white vinegar for soaking water
Chicken
- 300 g chicken breast
- 2 slices ginger
- 1 pinch salt
Nước Chấm Dressing
- ½ cup fish sauce
- ½ cup lime juice
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup water
- 2 tsp garlic finely chopped
- 2 small red chillies finely sliced, seeds removed
Herb and Salad
- 1 red onion finely shaved
- 1 large Lebanese cucumber peeled into ribbons
- ½ cup coriander leaves
- 1 cup perilla leaves from Vietnamese green grocer
- 1 cup Vietnamese mint leaves from Vietnamese green grocer (optional)
- 1 cup fish mint leaves from Vietnamese green grocer (optional)
- 1 cup mint leaves
Finish
- 1 tbsp roasted peanuts lightly crushed
- 1 tbsp fried shallots
To Serve
- Prawn crackers in Asian aisle or Asian grocer
Instructions
Prepare Banana Blossom
- Fill a large bowl with cold water and add the vinegar and salt.
- Peel away the tough outer purple layers and discard the small immature bananas as you go.
- Finely slice the pale inner blossom and place it immediately into the vinegar water to prevent browning.
- Soak for 10–12 minutes, then rinse well and squeeze firmly removing excess water.
Cook Chicken
- Bring a pot of water to a gentle simmer with the ginger slices and a pinch of salt.
- Add the chicken breast and poach for 12–14 minutes until just cooked through.
- Rest for 5 minutes, then shred thinly along the grain.
Make Nước Chấm
- Heat water and sugar until sugar is fully dissolved.
- Take off heat and combine fish sauce and lime juice.
- Allow to cool, before adding the finely chopped garlic and sliced chilli.
- Taste and adjust: add more water if too sharp, more fish sauce if the blossom needs extra seasoning.
- Note: Keep the base ratio at 1:1:1:1 (fish sauce : lime juice : sugar : water).
Assemble
- Combine banana blossom, shredded chicken, onion, cucumber, coriander, Vietnamese mint, perilla, fish mint and mint in a large bowl.
- Add most of the nước chấm and toss to coat evenly.
- Fold gently to distribute the herbs without bruising them.
- Taste and add more nước chấm if needed – the blossom absorbs dressing quickly so adjust at the last moment.
- Plate generously and finish with crushed peanuts, fried shallots, lime zest and a pinch of flaky salt.
Serve
- Deep fry the prawn crackers at 180°C until fully puffed and crisp (1-2 minutes).
- Serve immediately alongside the salad.
Notes
Storage
Best eaten immediately after dressing. Undressed components (blossom, chicken, herbs) can be prepped and refrigerated separately for up to a day.Key pitfalls:
- Usable blossom is roughly 40% of the whole weight – a 1kg blossom yields about 500g once the outer purple layers and immature bananas are removed. Buy accordingly.
- Slice the blossom as finely as possible – thick slices give an unpleasant fibrous texture that no amount of dressing will fix.
- Get the blossom into the vinegar water immediately after slicing – it oxidises and browns within seconds of exposure to air.
- Dress the salad only just before serving. The blossom soaks up the nước chấm salad dressing fast and what tastes balanced at assembly can taste flat and over-seasoned five minutes later.
