Vietnamese Chicken & Banana Flower Salad

When I first came across banana flowers at a market, I had no idea what they were. They were large, purplish-red in color and kind of heavy. Fast forward a few months later, I was invited to a potluck at my friends’ home and one of the guests brought this amazing salad over. She informed me that the main ingredient was banana flower and was kind enough to share her recipe with me.

The banana flower itself doesn’t have much of a flavor so it easily takes on whatever ingredients you add with it. Besides eating it raw, it’s also served fried or boiled in a variety of Asian dishes. You can find banana flowers at farmers markets, Asian grocery stores or other specialty markets.

Vietnamese Chicken & Banana Flower Salad Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breast fillets
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 banana flower
• 1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks
• ½ red onion finely sliced
• ½ cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ cup fresh laksa leaves (if unavailable, substitute with Thai basil or cilantro), finely chopped
• ½ cup fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
• ½ cup roasted peanuts, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon crispy fried shallots as garnish

Sauce

• 1 Thai birds eye chili, minced
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce

Method

Place the chicken breasts in a medium pot and fill it with water to cover the breasts. Bring the water to a boil and then lower the temperature to simmer for 8 to 10 minutes. Take out the fillets and let them cool down. When the fillets have cooled, shred the meat and set aside.

Mix lemon juice from one lemon in a large bowl of water.

Peel the purple petals of the banana flower until you get to the heart. There will be stems attached to the petals. Remove and discard them but reserve the petals. The prettiest petals can be used to serve the salad. When you get to the heart, cut off the stem and slice the entire heart thinly. Immediately place the slices into a bowl of lemon water to prevent them from oxidizing.  Soak for about 30 minutes before discarding the lemon water.

Soak the carrot matchsticks and the sliced onions in a bowl with rice wine vinegar and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Set aside for 30 minutes for the carrots and onions to absorb the vinegar. Drain the vinegar and set aside the vegetables.

Place the minced chili and garlic in a small bowl and add in the sugar, salt, lemon juice and fish sauce. Stir them all together and make sure the sugar is dissolved. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

In a large salad bowl, toss the chicken meat with the banana flower slices, carrots, onions, laksa leaves, fresh mint leaves and peanuts. Pour the dressing over the ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Serve in the banana flower petals with a garnish of fried shallots on top.