This easy vibrant choy sum with char siu pork salad is great to serve as part of an Asian banquet, perfect for mid-week meal prep and easily changed to suit all tastes.
For this Choy Sum & Char Siu Pork Salad choose young, tender choy sum for its mildly sweet flavour which compliments the earthiness of the red cabbage, fresh herbs and tart vinaigrette – a perfect partner to the sweet Char Siu Pork fillet.
A great recipe to serve as part of an Asian banquet, at a buffet or barbecue. A great lunchbox salad or picnic salad as it travels well.
I like to make my own Char Siu Pork using a recipe from Nagi at Recipe Tin Eats. I will double the marinade recipe and freeze half to cook at a later date.
The difference between choy sum and yu choy
Choy Sum has slender stems that are pale green and firm with flat, and lightly serrated, green leaves. It is relatively mild and tender, with a slightly sweet flavour. Great in salads.
Yu choy is larger, less tender and may have some yellow flowers. It has a more pronounced bitter and/or mustard-like flavour than choy sum. Best to cook with.
How to make this salad
1Prepare the choy sum
Cut off the base of the stalks and trim to remove any fibrous outer husk. Remove any wilted, yellowed or damaged leaves.
Wash under cold running water taking care to remove any dirt between the leaves and stalks, then drain and pat dry.
Shred thinly chiffonade style by stacking the leaves on top of each other, gently rolling them into a cigar, and then using a sharp knife slice them into thin ribbons.
TRIM AND CUT CHOY SUM
2Prepare the red cabbage
Cut off the base of the stalks and trim to remove any fibrous outer husk. Remove any wilted, yellowed or damaged leaves.
Wash under cold running water taking care to remove any dirt between the leaves and stalks, then drain and pat dry.
Shred thinly chiffonade style by stacking the leaves on top of each other, gently rolling them into a cigar, and then using a sharp knife slice them into thin ribbons.
3Prepare the carrots
Very young carrots just need to be scrubbed clean and topped and tailed. Older carrots may need to be peeled (but try not to take too much off as most of the nutrients are stored just beneath the skin.
For this recipe, you will need to cut your carrots into a fine julienne. This can be done using a julienne peeler or with the julienne attachment on your mandoline/v-slicer.
4Chop your herbs
Rinse well in a colander under cold running water, then pat dry.
Remove the leaves from the stems by holding the stems and either use a chef’s knife to shave the leaves off with the blade pointing away from you. You can leave the more tender stems attached.
Gather the leaves in the centre of your board. Start from on one side of the pile and cut through them making only a few deliberate cuts. Gather them again in a pile and cut through them again until roughly chopped.
5Assemble your salad
Place all the vinaigrette ingredients to a glass jar, shake until emulsified.
Add everything to a large mixing bowl, pour the dressing over the salad, season with salt and pepper. Toss your salad until well combined, taste and adjust seasonings according to your taste.
Place the salad on a large platter, arrange the pork slice on top, drizzle the hoisin sauce on top, scatter with the sesame seeds and serve
to meal prep this salAD
This is a choy sum salad is a great recipe to food prep for lunches throughout the week.
Prepare the salad vegetables and place them in separate containers, cut up the pork and put it on top, place the dressing in a small separate container to add just before eating and chop up some herbs the day before and scatter them on the top.
VARIATIONS TO TRY
If you are not a fan of pork you can substitute with…
- a store-bought charcoal chicken, just shred the chicken and make a pesto mayo to go with it (place 2 tbsps mayo, 1 tbsp pesto, oil or water to loosen in a small bowl and whisk until combined).
- some rare roast beef from the deli and make a honey mustard dressing to go with it.
- some grilled chorizo and make this smoked paprika dressing to drizzle on top.
- an avocado and some mixed seeds or nuts to make it vegan great with a za’atar dressing.
Still in the mood for some more Asian style salads?
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