Asian Slaw Recipe

Tonkatsu Salad with Asian Slaw

As you can imagine, I get a lot of requests for recipes here at Pacific Grill. 

Lately I have received repeated requests for our Asian Slaw recipe that we use on our Asian Pulled Pork Sliders w/ Sweet potato Fries & house-made cranberry/ginger ketchup. We also use this dressing on our Bánh Mì sandwich.

The recipe came about when I was trying to imagine a Vietnamese-styled Caesar Salad when I was Exec Chef of Le Colonial restaurant in Beverly Hills, CA. So feel free to use it also as an Asian Caesar—it is delicious drizzled over grilled Romaine lettuce wedges in the summer with some shaved parmesan!

The recipe has been scaled back from the much larger version we use at the restaurant. Obviously if you change any of the ingredients, or use a different brand of fish sauce — the saltiness of the dish may be affected, so please taste the slaw adding more or less of any particular ingredient until you enjoy it.

Asian Slaw

1 clove garlic, sliced and fried crispy (if you do not fry the garlic--the flavor will be slightly different. You can also purchase fried garlic in Asian Markets)

1 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fish sauce (we use 3 Crabs brand)

1 3/8 cups mayonnaise (we use Japanese Kewpie Brand)

½ tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 whole lemon, zested and juiced (we use a microplane to zest)

1 whole lime, zested and juiced

1 teaspoon palm sugar (you may substitute brown sugar)

1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

2 each kaffir lime leaves, remove thick stems, cut into thin slivers then chop coarsely

1/3 head red cabbage, shredded

1/3 head green cabbage leaves, shredded

1/3 head Napa cabbage, shredded

1/4 bunch cilantro, washed well and chopped (chop leaves and mince stems)

1/2 bunch mint, stemmed and torn into irregular pieces

1/2 bunch Thai basil, stemmed and torn into irregular pieces

1 bunch green onions, minced

FOR GARNISH:

2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted (we use both black & white sesame seeds)

1 tablespoon crispy shallots (purchased from an Asian Market)

1.       Place the fried & minced garlic, fish sauce, mayonnaise, vinegar, lemon 
& lime zest & juices, sugar & black pepper into a food processor and purée  
until creamy about 1 min

2.       Stir in the chopped kaffir lime leaves, and refrigerate dressing until needed

3.       Shred the cabbages and add to a large serving bowl

4.       Before chopping, be sure to wash the cilantro very well as it can be very dirty. Tear the other herbs and  toss well with the shredded cabbages, and add the minced green onions

5.       Just before serving, toss the cabbage & herbs with enough dressing to lightly coat the slaw

6.       Taste & correct seasonings

7.       Generously sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds and crispy shallots over each salad

8.       Serve