Monday 1 April 2013

Mummy's French Salad


I am sure many of you have eaten coleslaw where the main ingredient is cabbage. My mum also prepares another salad which she calls French Salad. We have this salad very often back home.

This salad is made from cabbage, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes and canned button mushrooms. It is the first salad I tasted and till today I love it very much. It is a good accompaniment to fried chicken, roast chicken, pork and even curry.

Sometimes my mum would pickle the canned mushroom first to make it tastier. It is quite easy to do. What you need is garlic, salt, pepper, honey and apple cider vinegar. Just pickle the mushrooms a couple of hours ahead or overnight.

Pickled mushrooms.

The vinaigrette for this salad, which my mum calls French dressing, is made from apple cider vinegar, garlic, white peppercorns, honey, salt and olive oil. My mum and I use our good old mortar and pestle to pound the ingredients. After that we add some finely sliced basil into the dressing. We like to use the local basil called "Selasih/Kemangi". Sometimes, I  pound it together with the other ingredients.

Vinaigrette.

To add more zing to the vinaigrette, I sometimes add anchovies and mustard. I find this salad very light and refreshing and not heavy like coleslaw. The cabbage that I like to use is the organic cabbage as it does not smell and taste as strong as the huge regular ones. Or you can use Beijing cabbage (regular or organic) as it does not have the typical strong cabbage smell.



Or if you don't like cabbage, you can use iceberg lettuce or any other salad greens. And you can also use red wine vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar or mix half and half. This salad is a tasty way to eat your raw vegetables. Being a garlic and onion lover, I tend to add more garlic to the vinaigrette and add some thinly sliced onions to the salad. 









Mummy's French Salad
Recipe source : Phong Hong

Ingredients :

For salad :
- 4 leaves from a medium sized cabbage, finely sliced
- 1 small cucumber, thinly sliced
- 2 tomatoes, cut into segments
- 1 small carrot, grated
- 1 can (425g) button mushrooms (see below on how to pickle)

For dressing :
- 1 large clove garlic
- 10 white peppercorns
- 1/8 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1 tablespoon honey (or to taste)
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 basil leaves, finely sliced (Optional)

Pickling liquid for mushrooms :
- 1 clove garlic
- 5 white peppercorns
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- pinch of salt

Method :

Pickled mushrooms (prepare this 2 hours beforehand or overnight)
1. Pound garlic, peppercorns and salt till fine.
2. Add apple cider vinegar and honey.
3. Rinse and drain the button mushrooms.
4. Mix mushrooms and pickling liquid and set aside in fridge for at least 2 hours.

Salad dressing :
1. Pound garlic, peppercorns and salt till fine.
2. In a bowl, mix pounded ingredients with honey, apple cider vinegar, olive oil and basil.

To assemble salad :
- Put all vegetables into a mixing bowl.
- Pour dressing and toss to mix evenly.
- Taste and adjust for seasoning.

Note : You can toss the salad and keep in the fridge 1 hour before serving.


My mum prepares a huge bowl of this salad for our meals and without fail the salad will be polished clean. Even the dressing that pools at the bottom of the salad bowl is licked clean. That's how good this salad is and how much my family loves it!

We fight to drink the dressing :)

40 comments:

  1. Looks good. Would use greens instead of cabbage though...just to have a bit more colour.

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    1. Good idea, sometimes I also do it with greens like romaine, iceberg lettuce or the various types of salad leaves.

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  2. MM!MY! looks so yummy.I didn't know you can also use red wine vinegar must try tomorrow today so lazy

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    1. EE, I feel that it tastes better with red wine vinegar. It is a nice change from using apple cider vinegar.

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  3. Hi Phong Hong, very refreshing and appetizing salad. Love the combination, make me a BIG plate, please. Good for light lunch. :))

    Have a nice day ahead.

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    1. Amelia, this is very good diet food. Also good for detox :)

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  4. Hi Phong Hong,
    What a healthy dish post on a Monday morning! And yes I loves cabbage!

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    1. Mel, cabbage has lots of nutrients and health benefits. Good for you that you love cabbage.

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  5. Hi Phong Hong,
    I have never thought of pickling the canned mushroom! It certainly adds a more delicious taste! And I love cabbage! Lovely salad, I could eat a bowl of this!

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    1. Joyce, the button mushrooms on their own have a funny smell :) So pickling it makes it taste a lot better. Hope you try the salad.

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  6. Another delicious post of yours! I found a wide cabbage peeler, which brings cabbage salad up a notch! magic!

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    1. Hi cousin! I have seen the wide cabbage peeler but wasn't sure if it is practical to use.

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  7. Delicious and refreshing salad! I would love to have a huge bowl.

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    1. Mich, you will love this salad. And there are so many types of raw vegetables you can use besides the cabbage.

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  8. PH, this salad is very unique, esp with the pickled button mushrooms. I am not a fan of button mushrooms as i find it has a funny taste, but pickling it is a good idea. Bookmarked to try :)

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    1. Esther, I agree that canned button mushrooms have a funny smell and taste. Pickling takes that away. Do try it!

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  9. very refreshing salad. I like the pickled button mushroom ...this will ngam my angmo husband :)

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    1. Li Shuan, make this salad lah for your husband. You must eat also :)

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  10. PHong Hong,
    I like your mummy French salad.
    Pickled button mushroom sounds unique.
    Hope I can try some now with more dressing :p
    mui

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    1. mui mui, I always like my salad with more dressing. Got more oomph!

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  11. I've never thought of adding button mushroom in the salad. Looks so yummy, must follow your recipe next time :)

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    1. Ann, if you add the canned mushrooms I recommend that you pickle it. Very yummy!

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  12. What a delightful salad! I could easily polish it off, too...the dressing is perfect!

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    1. Thank you, Lizzy! A big bowl of it keeps me very happy :)

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  13. good morning phong hong, pickled mushroom is something special in salad! i only usually add them in stir fries. when i look at the dressing, i actually thought of budu..cos i just looked at gert's nasi kerabu! hehe..

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    1. Hi Lena, Gert's nasi kerabu make your imagination run wild! I rush out to buy a bottle of budu yesterday after reading her post hah! hah!

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  14. This is a refreshing and healthy salad, I love it!!!!

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    1. Thanks, Esther! Hope you will try it :)

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  15. I dont really like coleslaw cos I find it a bit too icky cos of the mayo, but this looks like a great alternative with the appetizing dressing. :)

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    1. Yen, I agree. Coleslaw can be very "jelak" if you eat too much of it. This salad is lighter and definitely refreshing.

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  16. When the Queen of salad posts something like this, I must pay real attention... and bookmark it. :D

    I could visualise young PH drinking and finishing the last drop of the dressing! Thank you Mummy!

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    1. Alvin, drinking vinegar promotes good health it seems. So I shall drink away :)

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  17. Boleh bagi salad sikit dan saya bagi awak lekor sikit, hehehe..this is my 1st time seeing button mushroom in salad, sound good !

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    1. Sonia, salad and keropok lekor could be a nice combination hah! hah!

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  18. wow sounds so tasty and new to me....id love to try this out

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  19. This would make a healthy side dish, i am curious about the taste of pickled button mushrooms :)

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    1. The pickled mushrooms take on a nice sweet and sour garlicky taste. It is very nice I assure you!

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