This salad is inspired by one of the best bites of food I’ve ever had, the crispy rice salad at Hai Hai, an amazing Vietnamese restaurant in Minneapolis. It’s got, like, four different layers of crunch and a dressing that’s spicy, sweet, salty, and bright. I never knew I could love a salad this much!
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 30 min |
| Active: | 25 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- Canola or vegetable oil, for frying
- 4 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 Thai bird chile, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup dry roasted, unsalted peanuts
- 1 1/2 cups cooked jasmine rice (see Cook’s Note)
- 4 cups chopped dinosaur kale
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced (about 1/4 cup)
- 1/2 cup whole fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Fill a cast-iron pan with 1 1/2 inches oil and heat to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet tray with paper towels and set aside.
- Meanwhile, make your dressing. Combine the garlic and ginger in a large bowl. Add the Thai bird chile. Add 2 tablespoons hot oil from your cast iron into the mixture. Add the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar and whisk together. Let the mixture sit while you prepare your other ingredients.
- Add the peanuts to the hot oil and fry until they are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove and add to the dressing. Mix to coat the peanuts.
- In the same cast-iron pan, scatter the rice in the hot oil and fry until crispy and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer the fried rice to the lined sheet tray to drain.
- Add the kale, shallot, cilantro leaves and crispy rice to a large bowl and toss with the peanuts and dressing to taste. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 382 |
| Total Fat | 28 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Carbohydrates | 31 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 9 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg |
| Sodium | 722 mg |
Reviews
This was excellent. I am a caterer and always looking for something different to serve. I X4 the recipe. Lots of kale picking! Didn’t have Thai Bird chiles so used a serrano and 1/2 of a spicy jalapeno. It was plenty hot for everyone. Cook the rice in batches. I dumped too much in the hot oil and it lowered the temp too much. The rice didn’t get crispy. Had plenty of rice, did the next tries with much smaller amounts of rice and they were nice and crunchy. Such a great flavor experience.