Although this light yet flavorful slaw can be eaten alone or as a side dish to almost anything, at home we serve gỏi as an appetizer with shrimp chips. I can’t describe the flavor or sensation of these but they tingle as soon as they touch your tongue and the vinegar of the slaw makes the chips crackle. I hope everyone experiences this Vietnamese tapa at least once!
Vietnamese Chicken Slaw (Gỏi Gà) (Serves 4-6)
• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 small head of cabbage
• 2 small red onions
• 1 cup rau ram leaves, coarsely chopped (also known as Vietnamese coriander or ladythumb)
• 1 cup vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 3 tbsp prepared fish sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
1. Chop the hard end off the cabbage head and chop into quarters.
2. Chop cabbage into 1/8 inch thick shreds. Place into a large bowl.
3. Slice onions into thin rings and add to bowl.
4. Pluck rau ram leaves and chop coarsely, OR you can bunch leaves together and snip with shears. Add to mixture.
5. In a pot of boiling water, boil chicken breasts for 15 minutes. Remove from water and let dry for 3-4 minutes. Using your hands, pull downwards on the boiled chicken breast to make thin and even chicken shreds. Don’t be tempted to use a knife; slicing the breast into strips instead of pulling them with your hands will make the meat much tougher and less likely to absorb the vinegar. Add chicken shreds to mixture.
6. Mix cabbage, onions, rau ram, and chicken evenly.
7. Add vinegar, water, prepared fish sauce, sugar, salt and pepper to the mixture. Mix slaw from the bottom up, making sure the vinegar solution is evenly distributed.
8. Chill for 15-20 minutes and serve.
9. Serve with shrimp chips. To prepare, heat oil and drop shrimp chips in for 5 seconds and watch them unfurl before your very eyes!
