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Preparation
30 minutes
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Cooking
15 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
A mixed salad with fresh ingredients combined with a sour and spicy dressing will make family meals more appealing. Today, TasteVN will introduce you to a crispy and delicious dried shrimp cucumber salad that everyone will love. Let’s get cooking right now!
Ingredients for Dried Shrimp Cucumber Salad Serves 3 people
Cucumber 5 pieces Dried shrimp 20 gr Carrot 1 piece White radish 1 piece Bell pepper 1 piece Herbs 200 gr (Vietnamese coriander/ basil) Pickled lime 1 piece (or 2 regular limes) Kumquat 5 pieces Roasted peanuts 10 gr (a handful) Fried shallots a little Chili sauce 2 tablespoons Fish sauce 5 tablespoons Sugar 5 tablespoons
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh cucumbers
- Choose cucumbers that have a natural bright green color, are evenly colored, and do not have small yellow or white spots.
- The cucumber should be long and straight, not too bent; those are the crunchy, tasty cucumbers.
- Do not buy cucumbers that are too big with swollen bodies; those are overripe cucumbers with many seeds and less flesh, which are not tasty.
How to choose delicious carrots
- Choose carrots that are deep orange in color, of moderate size, and have a long, tapered shape with smooth skin; these are fresh, delicious carrots.
- Observe the leaf stem; if the stem is green and firmly attached to the carrot, it means the carrot is still fresh, otherwise, carrots that have been stored for a long time will have stems that easily detach.
- Avoid buying carrots that are too large or too small; if they are too large, they are likely old carrots with fewer nutrients, while young carrots will not have the characteristic flavor of carrots.
How to choose fresh white radishes
- Fresh white radishes will have a long, tapered shape towards the tail, their skin is white, shiny, and of moderate size, fitting comfortably in hand.
- It is best to choose white radishes that still have green leaf stems; the more wilted the stem, the longer the white radish has been stored and the less fresh it is.
- Avoid buying soft, wilted white radishes or those with black-brown spots, especially those without any leaf stems, as it is difficult to check their quality and freshness.
Where to buy dried shrimp?
You can buy dried shrimp at food stalls or markets with various prices depending on the type; large dried shrimp will cost 290,000 VND/200GR (price updated on 03/05/2021). Additionally, you can make dried shrimp at home following the guide from the article by TasteVN below.
How to Prepare Dried Shrimp and Cucumber Salad
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Prepare Ingredients
With 5 cucumbers after purchasing, wash them thoroughly with water, then cut off both ends, slice them in half and use a spoon to remove the cucumber seeds, finally, cut the cucumbers into bite-sized pieces.
Next, peel 1 carrot and 1 radish, then slice the radish thinly and shred the carrot.
Then, take 200g of herbs including Vietnamese coriander and basil, wash them, and chop them finely. Remove the stem from the chili pepper, wash, and cut into pieces.
With 1 apricot lime and 5 calamondins, cut them in half and squeeze out the juice, making sure to remove the seeds!
Lastly, soak 20g of dried shrimp in cold water for 1 hour to expand, then wash thoroughly.
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Mixing the dipping sauce for the salad
You add to the bowl the part of the kumquat juice, along with 5 tablespoons of fish sauce, 2 tablespoons of chili sauce, 5 tablespoons of sugar, and then stir well until the ingredients dissolve into each other.
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Mixing cucumber salad with dried shrimp
Add to the bowl in turn the cucumber, white radish, carrot, and dried shrimp, then add 2 ladles of the salad dressing, use clean hands to mix the salad evenly for 2 minutes.
Next, you drain the salad dressing and then add the herbs and another ladle of the salad dressing; at this point, you gently mix to combine the ingredients.
Finally, you place the salad on a plate and top with a little roasted peanuts, fried shallots, and bird’s eye chili to make the dish more appealing.
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Final Product
Thus, our cucumber salad with dried shrimp is ready to enjoy. The dish is incredibly eye-catching, with the cucumber and other vegetable ingredients being very crispy, fresh, and evenly soaked in the sweet and sour spicy dressing. This dish is sure to be hard to resist due to its freshness and delicious flavor.
The dish dried shrimp cucumber salad has been completed extremely simply, hasn’t it? Wish you success in making it and enjoy the delicious dish with your family!
*Refer to images and recipes from the YouTube channel CKK Cooking
