Grilled Chicken and Banana Blossom Salad recipe (Vietnamese Cooking Series)

Goi Hoa Chuoi Ga Nuong is an absolutely delicious and delicate salad dish which roughly translates to Grilled Chicken and Banana Blossom Salad. It has a base of banana flowers and grilled chicken and, as most Vietnamese recipes, a game of flavours and textures with fresh vegetables and herbs, roasted sesame seeds, fried shallots, crispy sesame rice paper and an acid-salty dressing. The origins of this banana blossom salad recipe are quite rustic, but has become quite an elegant dish. Banana blossom is quite hard to find in Western countries, so you can substitute it with cabbage or kale. The result will be a bit different but it will still taste nice.

I learned how to cook this dish in the Vietnamese city of Hoi An, in a Vietnamese cooking class organized by Red Bridge Cooking School. If you want to have a look at my overall experience in this cooking school, have a look at my full review of Red Bridge.

Ingredients for Banana Blossom Salad recipe (for 4 people)

For the marinate

• 200g of chicken thigh (boneless) or breast
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of sugar (rock sugar preferred)
• 2 pinches of pepper
• 2 pinches of Vietnamese 5-spice mix

For the salad

• 1 cup of grated banana flower (remove bitterness by washing it in vinegar and salt). *Tip: It can be substituted with cabbage or kale
• 1 cup of grated green papaya
• 1/2 cup of grated mango
• 1/4 cup of grated carrot
• 1 fresh chilli, finely sliced
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 6 water spinach stems, finely sliced

For the dressing

• 1 lime (juice)
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of crushed garlic
• 1 tablespoon of fish sauce

For the topping

• 1/2 cup of mint
• 1/2 cup of Vietnamese mint
• 1/4 cup of Asian basil
• 2 tablespoons of roasted sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon of sliced shallot
• vegetable oil
• 1 sesame rice paper

Preparation

• Marinate chicken with all the ingredients for at least 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, roast the sesame rice paper sheets on a grill and set aside.
• Slice all the vegetables for the salad. *Tip: in the class we used a local utensil to slice the vegetables and it was really fast.

• Add the sliced shallot and oil (cold) into a pot. Deep fry, stirring with chopstics, until golden brown. Drain well and set aside. Keep oil for later.
• Grill the marinated chicken until golden and let it sit for 2 minutes.

• Place the salad mixture in a large serving bowl and toss with the mixture.

• Move ingredients to a serving plate, slice chicken into strips and sprinkle on the toppings. Serve with crispy rice paper.

Closing statement

Try this beautiful easy banana blossom salad recipe at home for a fresh, healthy and different meal. You will surprise your guests with your Vietnamese cooking skills. The only difficult part of this recipe is to find some of the ingredients, but you can easily substitute them for others.

If you enjoyed this, you will probably also like:

→ Vietnamese recipe: Pho Bo

→ Thai food: Pad Thai

→ Hoi An food guide: 7 must-eat dishes in Hoi An → 10 Must-Try Hoi An Restaurants

→ Vietnamese Cooking Class in Hoi An with Red Bridge