Asian Crunchy Cabbage Salad
This salad is by far one of my go-to summer salads whether I’m having a bbq with a few friends for a huge crew. It definitely seems to be a crowd favorite as well.
You start off with a head of savoy cabbage. Now you could use a regular cabbage, napa cabbage or a mixture of the three, but if you have to chose one I would go with savoy. It has a milder flavor than regular cabbage so even people who aren’t hug cabbage fans might find themselves enjoying this dish. The ideal mix would be a bit of regular and savoy but since you only need one head to make this recipe, I’d stick to savoy like I said.
The crunchy topping that you’ll mix is is made with dried instant ramen noodles, chopped almonds and sesame seeds which you’ll cook in a good amount of butter.
The dressing is very simple and just 4 ingredients: soy sauce, canola oil, sesame oil and sugar. The original recipe handed to me had more oil and a lot more sugar than I listed, but I cut it down to make it a bit more healthy.
Other things you may want to add to make the salad even better is thinly sliced green onion, sesame crackers, shredded carrot & cilantro.
As I always say, be creative with it!
Note that this is one of those salads that you don’t want to toss in the dressing too far ahead of time. For the most crunch toss before serving. I personally like to toss mine a couple hours before because I like the cabbage to soften a bit. Just something to keep in mind especially if you are planning to do any prep work ahead of time.
Serves About 12 (as a side)
Ingredients
3 T butter
2 packages instant ramen noodles (do not need the flavor packets, therefore flavor not important)
3/4 c chopped almonds
1 T sesame seeds
1/2 c canola oil
1 T sesame oil
1 T soy sauce
1/4 c sugar
1 head savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
Directions
In a large pan on medium heats melt your butter. Then add your instant ramen, using your hands to breaks it down into small pieces. If this is too difficult, you can put the noodles in a bag and use a rolling pin to crush them down. Also add in your chopped almonds. Cooked until nice and toasty or for about 8 minutes. Mix in the sesame seeds before removing from the heat.
Meanwhile get the dressing together by whisking the canola oil, sesame oil, soy sauce and sugar together.
Add the crunchy mixture to a large bowl of your cabbage and give the dressing a whisk before tossing it in as well. (Note: Add the dressing no more than a few hours before serving or your salad will get increasingly soggy. Add it right before for max crunchiness. I prefer 2 hours before so the cabbage softens a little.)
Notes
Gluten-free: This recipe is not gluten-free unless you can find gluten-free instant ramen noodles and use a gluten-free soy sauce. One Idea would be to substitute the ramen with some type of gluten-free sesame/rice crackers. Anything that give the salad an added crunch.
Dairy-free: This recipe is dairy-free as is.
Cabbage: Now you could use a regular cabbage, napa cabbage or a mixture of the three, but if you have to chose one I would go with savoy. The ideal mix would be a bit of regular and savoy but since you only need one head to make this recipe, I’d stick to savoy like I said.
Other Topping Ideas: Sliced green onion, sesame crackers, shredded carrot & cilantro.
Canola Oil: You can substitute with any other cooking oil you’d like such as vegetable oil and sunflower oil. I would suggest staying away from the fatty oils such as avocado oil since you will use a good amount but completely up to you.
Sugar: The original recipe handed down to me calls for a whole cup a sugar and a ? Of oil. But you’ll see I’ve narrowed it down to be a bit more healthy. I’ve also made this with brown sugar before and it was also very tasty!