Cucumber, Kale, and Spiced Cashew Salad (Gỏi Du’a Leo Chay)
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Reprinted with permission from Ever-Green Vietnamese: Super-Fresh Recipes, Starring Plants from Land and Sea by Andrea Nguyen, copyright © 2023. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Photographs copyright © 2023 by Aubrie Pick.
Crisp gỏi du’a leo is a classic Viet salad often served as an appetizer with fried shrimp chips for scooping. To lighten the knife workload on weeknights and turn it into a side salad to accompany other dishes, I add kale for texture and a bunch of fresh herbs for punchy notes. Make sure the kale plays well with the other veggies and tastes good when raw by selecting curly kale with frilly, tender leaves resembling a swirly skirt, not a stiff scratchy tutu. A generous amount of spicy-sweet candied nuts stands in for the meat that’s typically found in this salad. In Vietnamese, cucumbers go by two charming names, du’a leo (“climbing squash” in southern Vietnam) and du’a chuột (“mouse squash” in northern Vietnam), so this salad may also be called gỏi du’a chuột. Around my house, we regularly have this salad and call it the 3C gỏi (cucumber + carrots + cashews).
This recipe, and others like it, can be found in the article “These Easy Healthy Vietnamese Recipes Will Elevate Your Weeknight Dinners.”
How to Make It
1
Make the Dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the 1 1⁄2 tbsp sugar, lime juice, fish sauce, 1 tbsp. neutral oil, and chile-garlic sauce to combine well. Knowing that the candied cashews will bring extra sweetness later, taste and add lime juice 1⁄2 tsp. at a time for a tangy finish. Set this dressing aside.
2
Candy the Cashews: Place a piece of parchment paper near the stove. In a 10-inch nonstick skillet, combine the cashews, maple syrup, remaining 1 tsp. neutral oil, cayenne, and 1 big pinch of salt, stirring to coat well. Set over medium heat. After gentle bubbling begins, lower the heat slightly and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, to toast and coat the cashews in crystalline bits of maple sugar and spice. Turn the heat to medium-low to slow the cooking. When you see a whisper of smoke, pull the pan off the burner. Stir the cashews for 20 seconds to coax deeper flavor and then dump them onto the parchment paper, spreading them out in one layer to cool. Before using, coarsely chop if there are many large pieces.
3
Prep the Vegetables: Trim the ends from the cucumber and halve it crosswise and then lengthwise. Use a teaspoon to scrape out the seeds. With the cut side down, thinly slice each piece on a steep diagonal. Transfer to a large bowl. Peel the carrot, cut into thin matchsticks, and add to the cucumber. Toss the veggies with 3⁄4 tsp. salt and the remaining 3⁄4 tsp. sugar. Massage gently for about 2 minutes to quickly release water; if you’re not in a hurry, let them sit for about 20 minutes to weep moisture. Once a healthy pool of liquid gathers in the bowl, drain the veggies in a mesh strainer. Give the mixture a quick rinse under water, then press the veggies against the mesh with your hand to expel lingering water. Dry the bowl and return the veggies to it.
4
Assemble and Serve: Add the kale, candied cashews, and herbs to the cucumber and carrot and then toss to combine. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss again. Transfer to a serving bowl, leaving any unabsorbed dressing behind, and serve.
Ingredients
1 ½ tbsp plus 3⁄4 tsp granulated sugar, divided
3 tbsp fresh lime juice, plus more as needed
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp neutral oil (such as canola or peanut), divided
1 tsp chile-garlic sauce or 1 Thai chile, thinly sliced
⅔ cup raw cashew halves and/or pieces (can substitute walnuts or pecans)
1 ½ tbsp pure maple syrup (can substitute 1 tbsp honey, but nuts will be clumpy)
⅛ tsp cayenne pepper or freshly ground black pepper
fine sea salt
1 large English cucumber, or 1 lb. Japanese or Chinese cucumbers
1 small carrot
3 to 4 cups hand-torn curly kale leaves (aim for bite-size pieces when tearing from the stems); escarole works, too
1 cup hand-torn mix of tender herbs (such as mint, shiso, and any kind of basil)
Directions
1
Make the Dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the 1 1⁄2 tbsp sugar, lime juice, fish sauce, 1 tbsp. neutral oil, and chile-garlic sauce to combine well. Knowing that the candied cashews will bring extra sweetness later, taste and add lime juice 1⁄2 tsp. at a time for a tangy finish. Set this dressing aside.
2
Candy the Cashews: Place a piece of parchment paper near the stove. In a 10-inch nonstick skillet, combine the cashews, maple syrup, remaining 1 tsp. neutral oil, cayenne, and 1 big pinch of salt, stirring to coat well. Set over medium heat. After gentle bubbling begins, lower the heat slightly and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, to toast and coat the cashews in crystalline bits of maple sugar and spice. Turn the heat to medium-low to slow the cooking. When you see a whisper of smoke, pull the pan off the burner. Stir the cashews for 20 seconds to coax deeper flavor and then dump them onto the parchment paper, spreading them out in one layer to cool. Before using, coarsely chop if there are many large pieces.
3
Prep the Vegetables: Trim the ends from the cucumber and halve it crosswise and then lengthwise. Use a teaspoon to scrape out the seeds. With the cut side down, thinly slice each piece on a steep diagonal. Transfer to a large bowl. Peel the carrot, cut into thin matchsticks, and add to the cucumber. Toss the veggies with 3⁄4 tsp. salt and the remaining 3⁄4 tsp. sugar. Massage gently for about 2 minutes to quickly release water; if you’re not in a hurry, let them sit for about 20 minutes to weep moisture. Once a healthy pool of liquid gathers in the bowl, drain the veggies in a mesh strainer. Give the mixture a quick rinse under water, then press the veggies against the mesh with your hand to expel lingering water. Dry the bowl and return the veggies to it.
4
Assemble and Serve: Add the kale, candied cashews, and herbs to the cucumber and carrot and then toss to combine. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss again. Transfer to a serving bowl, leaving any unabsorbed dressing behind, and serve.
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