Gỏi xoài/đu đủ/bấp cải|Vietnamese Slaw recipe

This is the second of four recipes that feature my favorite fish sauce Red Boat.

Gỏi xoài/đu đủ/bấp cải|Vietnamese Slaw

Below I have a green mango slaw recipe, but another traditional (and my personal favorite) way to eat green mangoes is to dip it in fish sauce mixed with đường thốt nhốt|palm sugar (optional fresh chiles).  When me and siblings were kids, we'd steal all the green mangoes off the tree in our front yard in Makiki District of Honolulu and eat them this way (albeit with white sugar) which exasperated our parents who wanted the mangoes to ripen.  Random trivia: I love my siblings, green mangoes and nước mấm so much I included this as a major motif in the screenplay for the experimental feature film KIỀU.

• 2 firm unripe large mangoes (Kent is a good variety) or 1 unripe papaya (can be found in Asian or Mexican stores) or 1/2 head of cabbage, shredded
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
• sliced onions or shallots (optional)
• raw apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup fresh mint
• 1/3 cup of thai basil and/or rau ram|Vietnamese coriander (optional)
• Chopped nuts to garnish (almonds, macadamia, walnuts, etc)
• Optional protein: grilled/fried tofu cut into strips, blanched shrimp, shredded chicken or pork (plainly cooked) or Viet beef jerky (traditionally eaten with gỏi đu đủ|green papaya salad)

Dressing

• 3 tbs Red Boat fish sauce
• 2 tbs đường thốt nốt| palm sugar or coconut palm sugar (or raw honey)* or fruit syrup
• 1-2 fresh thai bird chiles
• 1 tbs oil
• 1/2 lime
• 1 minced garlic
• Handful of cashews, macadamias, or almonds roughly chopped or sliced (optional use raw or sprouted nuts)

In a separate bowl, mix together the dressing ingredients incl garlic and set aside. Slice onion or shallots very thinly and soak in raw apple cider vinegar. Julienne or shred unripe mangoes, green papaya or cabbage. (If you want a less watery slaw, salt the cabbage or papaya and let sit for 30 to 60 min. Discard the water.)  Toss together with herbs and drained onions/shallots. Add protein. Pour the dressing on the slaw and toss. Let sit for 20 mins for flavors to absorb. Garnish with sprigs of cilantro and chopped nuts before serving

Ăn Ngon Lành|Eat Delectably!

*3/1/2014 I've recently watched Dr. Robert Lustig's TED talk where he lists the 56 names of sugar.  While coconut palm sugar was not one of the named, it still is a refined sugar.