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Preparation
30 minutes
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Cooking
10 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
On hot sunny days, enjoying a plate of refreshing salad must be wonderful, right! Today, the special page Cooking will introduce to you a delicious mixed salad that is very simple to make, which is sweet and sour pickled vegetable salad – Achar Salad. Let’s follow along to make this delicious dish!
Ingredients for Sweet and Sour Pickled Vegetable Salad Serves 4
Cucumber 2 pieces Carrot 2 pieces Long beans 200 gr (about 6 – 7 strips of beans) Napa cabbage 1/2 head Cauliflower 1/2 piece Bell pepper 5 pieces Dried chili 10 pieces Turmeric 1/2 piece Lemongrass 1 stalk Ginger 1/2 piece Garlic 4 cloves Shallot 10 pieces Shrimp paste 1 teaspoon Roasted peanuts 250 gr Fried shallots 50 gr Roasted white sesame 40 gr Vinegar 650 ml Cooking oil 4 tablespoons Sugar/salt a little
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh carrots
- A good carrot should have a straight, slender shape, smooth skin, bright color, and feel firm and heavy in hand.
- A carrot with a small core will be sweeter than one with a large core.
- Choose carrots of moderate size; large carrots often have more core, are older, and have more fibers, making them less tasty.
- Avoid choosing carrots that are bruised, misshapen, soft, wilted, or rotten.
How to choose fresh cucumbers
- You should choose cucumbers that are bright green, straight and long, with evenly sized ends, and feel heavy in hand.
- Choose those that are intact without insect bite marks, not bruised, and feel moderately firm to the touch.
- Avoid choosing cucumbers that have a bulging belly, a small head, and a pointed tail, as they are usually older, have many seeds, and are not crispy anymore.
- It is advisable to choose cucumbers of moderate size; smaller cucumbers are often sweeter than larger ones.
How to choose fresh and delicious napa cabbage
- To choose good napa cabbage, you should select heads that are oval-shaped, elongated, and have a light green color that gradually darkens from the tip of the leaves to the stem.
- Additionally, you can determine the firmness of the napa cabbage by holding it; if the cabbage feels a bit heavy and solid in your hand, then it is good napa cabbage. Good napa cabbage has a size that is not too large and a weight that is moderate, not too heavy or too light.
- Absolutely do not buy napa cabbage that has outer leaves that are torn, bruised, have many dark spots, or are infested with pests.
How to choose fresh and delicious cauliflower
- To choose fresh cauliflower, select heads that have evenly opened white florets tightly packed within the green outer stem. Choose cauliflower heads that are of moderate size, not too big, and have a light, distinctive aroma.
- Do not choose heads that have spots, are bruised, damaged, or have the smell of chemical growth enhancers as well as other strange odors.
See details: How to make banana vinegar (cooking vinegar) at home simply, safely for health
Tools required
Multi-function blender, knife, non-stick pan, cutting board, pot, food container,…
How to make sweet and sour pickled vegetable salad
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Prepare the vegetables
After buying carrots, cut off the ends, peel the skin, wash thoroughly, and cut into long strands about the width of a finger. Wash the cucumber and green beans, then cut them into strands similar to the carrots.
After cutting the cucumber and carrots, mix them with 1 tablespoon of salt and let them sit for 1 hour to soften.
Wash the napa cabbage and cut it into bite-sized pieces. Separate the cauliflower into florets, chop them small and wash them clean.
For the chili peppers, remove the stems, wash them clean, deseed one and cut it into strands, while leaving the rest whole and cutting them into pieces.
Peel the ginger, turmeric, and shallots.
Remove the tough outer layer of the lemongrass and slice it thinly.
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Blanch the vegetables
Place a pot on the stove, boil 1 liter of water with 500 ml of vinegar, along with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of salt.
When the water is boiling, add the cauliflower and green beans separately, blanch each type for about 30 seconds, then remove and place them on a cloth, gently use the cloth to absorb the excess water.
The carrots and cucumbers, after being mixed with salt for 1 hour, should be placed in a cloth and squeezed to remove excess water.
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Make chili sauce
Add to the food processor of the multifunctional blender 10 shallots, 4 cloves of garlic, 1/2 turmeric root, 1/2 ginger, lemongrass cut into slices, chopped chili, 10 dried chilies, 1 teaspoon of shrimp paste, then press the blend button until the mixture is smooth.
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Stir-frying the chili sauce
First, mix 150 ml of vinegar with 1 tablespoon of salt and 8 tablespoons of sugar.
Next, heat a pan on the stove, add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil. When the oil is hot, add the chili sauce you just made and stir well over medium heat for about 2 minutes, then add the mixed vinegar, stirring until the mixture boils. You can adjust the seasoning to your taste and then turn off the heat!
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Mixing the salad
You put all the prepared vegetables into a large bowl or basin, then add the sautéed chili sauce to mix well, add 250 grams of roasted crushed peanuts, 50 grams of fried shallots, 40 grams of roasted sesame seeds, and mix for 5 minutes for the vegetables to absorb the flavors.
To make this salad taste even better, you can put the mixed salad into a food container, seal the lid tightly, and place it in the refrigerator overnight before serving!
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Final product
The sweet and sour pickled vegetable salad with eye-catching colors, crispy and sweet vegetables, combined with the unique chili sauce with a sour and sweet, slightly spicy flavor is very interesting.
You can use this salad to eat with rice and savory dishes at mealtime; it will be very delicious!
How to preserve sweet and sour pickled vegetable salad
- To preserve salad for same-day use, you can cover your salad plate with plastic wrap and eat it all within the day to ensure freshness and flavor!
- To keep the salad longer, place the salad in a glass or plastic container and put it in the refrigerator refrigerator for storage of about 3 – 4 days!
With the simple recipe for sweet and sour pickled vegetable salad provided by TasteVN, I hope it helps you diversify your menu of mixed salads! Wishing you success.
*Refer to the recipe and images from the YouTube channel The Meatmen Channel
