How to Make Vietnamese Banana Blossom Salad

Preparing the Pork Ear

Since pork ear requires time for cleaning, boiling, and slicing, it’s best to prepare this ingredient first.

Use coarse salt and some lemon juice to thoroughly scrub the pork ear, removing odors. Be sure to clean the crevices and scrape off any remaining hair. Rinse thoroughly.

Boil a pot of water with a pinch of salt. Once boiling, add the pork ear and blanch it for about a minute. Then, remove the ear and rinse it again with salt.

Next, place the pork ear in a pot and add enough water to cover it. To enhance the flavor, crush a piece of ginger and add it to the pot. Some people also add a bit of vinegar to keep the pork ear white, but be careful not to add too much to avoid overpowering the meat's aroma with the vinegar's sourness.

Once the water boils, reduce the heat to a simmer. The pork ear should be fully cooked in about 12-15 minutes.

After boiling, remove the pork ear and submerge it in a bowl of ice water with a bit of lemon juice. The ice-lemon water helps the ear firm up, making it crisper and whiter.

Once the pork ear has cooled, rub it again to remove any remaining fat, avoiding a greasy taste when eaten. You can also rinse it with clean water. Let the ear drain, then wrap it and place it in the fridge to chill. Chilling it will make it easier to slice thinly. Slicing it while warm can cause it to become mushy and uneven. Moreover, slicing warm pork ear can cause the pieces to stick together due to its natural sliminess.

Preparing the Other Ingredients

Before slicing the banana blossom, prepare a large bowl of water with some coarse salt and the juice of 2 lemons. The salt helps remove the banana blossom’s bitterness, while the lemon’s acidity prevents it from browning and keeps it firm. If you don't have lemons, vinegar works as a substitute, but lemon gives a better aroma and less harshness. You can also use alum to soak the banana blossom.

Trim the ends of the banana blossom, then peel off the tough outer layers. These outer layers are chewy and bitter, but save them for decorating the salad later.

The small bananas inside the outer layers can be discarded, but keep the tender ones from the inner layers for eating, as the outer ones are too bitter.

Slicing the banana blossom is simple. Use a vegetable slicer or knife to cut the blossom into thin strips. As you slice, immediately submerge the strips in the prepared water to prevent browning.

In addition to making a pork ear salad, you can also make vegetarian banana blossom salad, or mix it with jellyfish, chicken, or shrimp. If not used in a salad, banana blossoms are great for stews with eel, fish, or tofu, or simply stir-fried with garlic.

Banana blossoms are rich in potassium, beneficial for heart health, fiber for digestion, and vitamin C for overall health. They also help stabilize blood sugar, reduce stress, and improve anemia, so don't overlook this ingredient.

Once sliced, keep the banana blossom in the water until ready to use, then rinse with clean water and let it drain.

Peel and julienne the carrot. You can use a grater to make thin strips.

Slice the onion thinly and separate the layers. To reduce the sharpness, soak the onion in ice water with a bit of vinegar, then drain and store in the fridge until ready to use. This will make the onion crispy and refreshing.

Rinse the bean sprouts in salt water and let them drain. If you have time, remove the heads and roots for a more aromatic salad.

Wash the starfruit, trim the edges, and slice it thinly. Since starfruit can brown and taste bitter due to its sap, soak the slices in a bowl of water with some lemon juice. When ready to eat, rinse with clean water, just like the banana blossom.

After washing the Vietnamese coriander in salt water and letting it drain, roughly chop it.

Mince the garlic and chili peppers. This will be used later to make the salad dressing.

Here, Cookbeo uses an additional red chili pepper, deseeded and julienned, primarily for garnishing the salad. If you can't find it, you can skip this ingredient.

Toast the peanuts and sesame seeds until fragrant. Coarsely crush the peanuts, but leave the sesame seeds whole. Coarsely crushing the peanuts adds crunch, while finely crushing them can make the salad too sticky.

Making the Banana Blossom Salad Dressing

There are many ways to make a salad dressing, as long as it balances sour, spicy, salty, and sweet flavors to suit the diner's taste. This recipe by Cookbeo strikes a good balance and can be used for most Vietnamese salads.

For the ingredients listed above, grind 1/2 teaspoon of coarse salt, then mix it with 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, 5 tablespoons of sugar, 4 tablespoons of vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Stir well to create a thick, well-blended dressing.

Later, when mixing the salad, some of the dressing will be discarded after the ingredients have absorbed the flavors, so don’t worry if it seems too sweet initially.

Once the mixture is well-blended and the salt and sugar have mostly dissolved, add the minced garlic and chili peppers, and stir well.

Alternatively, you can try another recipe with the ratio: 100-110ml vinegar, 20ml fish sauce, 80g sugar, 10g salt, and minced garlic and chili peppers.

You can make a larger batch of the salad dressing, bring it to a boil, let it cool, and store it in the fridge for later use.

Many people enjoy dipping the salad in a sweet and sour fish sauce to enhance the flavor. You can make this dipping sauce with the following recipe:

1.5 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons water. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then add minced garlic and chili peppers.

If you don't want to make sweet and sour fish sauce, you can also make a shrimp paste dipping sauce to go with the salad, which is equally delicious.

Assembling the Banana Blossom Salad

Before mixing the ingredients, slice the pork ear into thin, long pieces to absorb the seasoning and avoid toughness. However, avoid slicing too thinly, as the pieces may become fragmented.

Place the sliced pork ear in a separate bowl, drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of the salad dressing, and toss lightly to let the pork absorb the flavors. At this stage, you can add a bit of ground pepper if you like a spicy, peppery taste.

Next, add the drained banana blossom to a large bowl, followed by the carrot, onion, bean sprouts, and starfruit. Pour half of the salad dressing over the ingredients and toss lightly to coat them evenly. Be gentle to avoid crushing the ingredients.

Let the ingredients absorb the dressing for about 2 minutes, then drain off the excess liquid.

Next, add the pork ear, julienned red chili, most of the herbs, and peanuts. Pour the remaining dressing over the mixture and toss everything together until well-combined. Finally, drain off any excess liquid, and your banana blossom salad is ready to serve.