Have you ever eaten salad made with guava? If not, then let’s get cooking right away with TasteVN to discover how to make guava salad with pig’s ear and guava salad with snail, featuring unique and appealing flavors for your family!
1. Guava Salad with Pig’s Ear
Preparation
15 minutes
Cooking
30 minutes
Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Guava Salad with Pig’s Ear For 2 people
Pig’s ear 1 piece Guava 2 fruits Carrot 1 piece Onion 1 piece Ginger 1 piece Chili 3 fruits Cilantro 1 sprig Vietnamese coriander 5 gr Lemon 1 fruit
How to Choose Fresh and Delicious Pig’s Ear
- You should choose pig’s ears that are bright white, and when held, the texture should feel firm, not soft or mushy, and without any slimy residue.
- Fresh meat typically has good elasticity, so when you gently press on the pig’s ear, it should bounce back.
- Additionally, freshly slaughtered pig’s ears usually do not have any foul or strange odors.
How to Prepare Pig Ear Salad
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Prepare the Pig Ears
After purchasing the pig ears, you should pluck or scrape off any remaining hair on the ears. Sprinkle a little salt on the pig ears and rub them with salt to remove the sliminess, then rinse with clean water.
Tips for Cleaning Pig Ears Without Odor
- Method 1: Use vinegar (or lemon) and salt to scrub the pig ears. Then, soak the pig ears in water mixed with diluted vinegar (or lemon) for about 15 minutes, then take them out and rinse well.
- Method 2: Use tapioca flour (or wheat flour) to scrub the pig ears until bubbles form, then scrape off the areas with bubbles. Do this about 3 times until the pig ears lose their odor, and finally rinse with clean water.
- Method 3: Use salt and starfruit juice to scrub the pig ears and scrape off the dirty parts. Then scrub again with salt and rinse with clean water.
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Boil the Pig Ears
Peel and slice the ginger thinly.
Place a pot on the stove, add the pig ears, and pour enough water to cover them. Add the sliced ginger and 1 tablespoon of salt to the pot. Boil the pig ears for about 30 minutes over medium heat until they are tender.
Note: Only boil the pig ears for about 30 minutes; if boiled longer, they will lose their crispiness.
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Prepare the vegetables and fruits
Wash the guava, cut it in half, remove the seeds, and then slice it thinly. Do the same with the onion, peeling it and slicing it thinly.
Peel the carrot, slice it into thin pieces about 1cm thick, and then julienne.
Chop the Vietnamese balm finely.
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Make the dressing
Finely chop the garlic and chili, and put them in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar, 3 tablespoons of fish sauce, and the juice of 1/2 a lemon. Use a spoon to stir well until the sugar dissolves.
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Cut pig ears
After boiling the pig ears for 30 minutes, prepare a bowl of ice water. Remove the pig ears and place them in the cold ice water, turning both sides of the pig ears until they cool down.
Once cooled, cut the pig ears in half and then slice each half into thin slices about 2 – 3cm thick.
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Mix the salad
Add the onions, carrots, coriander, pig ears, and a bit of rice paddy herb into the bowl. Pour a little fish sauce into the bowl, mix well, and then continue to add more fish sauce to ensure the salad absorbs the dressing.
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Final product
The crispy and chewy pig ears served with the fresh papaya provide a unique and refreshing taste. Dipping it in the tangy and spicy sauce makes the pig ear salad even more appealing. You can also serve the salad with shrimp crackers.
2. Guava Salad with Snails
Preparation
15 minutes
Cooking
30 minutes
Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Guava Salad with Snails Serves 2
Green guava 300 gr Snails 500 gr Pork belly 100 gr Shallots 2 bulbs Chili pepper 1 piece Celery 1 piece Ginger 1 bulb Lemongrass 2 stalks Roasted sesame seeds 10 gr Rice vinegar 3 teaspoons MSG 1/2 teaspoon Chili sauce 1 tablespoon Sugar 3 tablespoons
How to Choose Fresh Ingredients
How to choose good snails
- Choose snails that are shiny and not broken, as these indicate freshness. Look for snails with fresh-looking meat that are still moving, which means they are alive.
- A tip to choose live snails is to smell them to see if there is any unpleasant odor. If the snail doesn’t have a foul smell, it is still alive.
How to choose good pork
- First, you need to choose fresh meat. The color of good pork is bright pink, not too red or too pale. Pork that is pale, has a greenish tint, or smells bad should be avoided.
- Pork that is firm and elastic is good quality. You can test by pressing your finger into the meat; if it springs back immediately, is not slimy, and does not ooze liquid, it’s good.
- You should choose pork shoulder or belly that has both lean meat and fat to ensure that your dish is neither dry nor overly greasy.
How to make Guava Salad with Snails
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Boil and prepare the snails
The snails with shells are soaked with 3 chili peppers and a few stainless steel spoons to remove some sand, then wash them clean.
Place a pot on the stove, add smashed lemongrass and sliced ginger, pour in about 1 liter of water. When the water starts to boil, add the snails and boil for 10-15 minutes until the snails are cooked.
After cooking, use chopsticks to poke the meat to remove the snails from their shells. Then cut the snails into thin slices.
Tip: When boiling the snails, add about 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar to make the snail meat crunchier.
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Prepare the other ingredients
Celery sliced. Vietnamese coriander finely chopped.
Shallots peeled and sliced. Similarly, cut the chili peppers into thin slices.
Guava peeled, cut in half, and remove the seeds. Then cut into sticks about 2cm long for easy eating.
Pork cut into small pieces and boiled until cooked.
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Make the salad dressing
Place a pan on the stove, add 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, 2 tablespoons of sugar into the pan, stir the mixture over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and creates a thick mixture, turn off the heat, and pour the mixture into a bowl.
Add minced chili and garlic, 3 teaspoons of rice vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate, and 1 tablespoon of chili sauce into the bowl, and stir well to combine the ingredients.
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Sauté the snails briefly
Place a pan on the stove, add 2 tablespoons of minced lemongrass into the pan to fry until fragrant.
Then add all the snails into the pan, stir well over high heat for about 3 – 5 minutes, then transfer the snails to a bowl, add 1 tablespoon of salad dressing into the bowl of snails and mix well to let the snails absorb the seasoning.
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Mixing the salad
Gradually add the guava, celery, shallots, chili, Vietnamese coriander, and snails into a large bowl. Add boiled pork belly, fried shallots, and peanuts into the bowl as well. Finally, pour in the dressing and mix everything together thoroughly.
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Final product
The guava salad with snails will give you a crunchy and chewy texture in your mouth, along with the sourness from the guava and a bit of spiciness and saltiness from the dressing, making the salad more flavorful. This will definitely be a delicious and unique dish for your family.
How to choose delicious guava
- The shape of the guava fruit should be balanced and harmonious, firm to the touch, without any deformities; this indicates a good guava that is ripe and evenly ripened.
- If you see the skin is bumpy, choose that one first because it has more flesh than seeds. If the guava skin is smooth, looks soft and lacks a firm feel, then the flavor will be bland, with less sweetness, and a mushy texture that is not tasty.
- The desirable color of a good guava is a light green with a slight yellow hue; depending on the variety, the skin color will vary when ripe. However, when choosing among several guavas next to each other, you should select those that have skin color that is adequately ripe.
- Gently press your finger on the surface of the guava skin; if it feels crisp and firm, then the guava will be fresher and tastier than those that are soft, wilted, or mushy.
- Choose guavas with flesh near the stem that have puffed up and are slightly yellow; these will be tastier.
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Pork ear and snail salad is easy to make, isn’t it? Wishing you success in making this salad!
*Refer to images and recipes from 2 YouTube channels: Delicious Every Day and Women and Family
