Vietnamese Calamari Salad

This cookbook has some of the very dishes we enjoyed while traveling through Vietnam.

 As you can see here, I have been making this one for awhile now.  And yes, I make notations in my cookbooks.  when all is said and done, my cookbooks will be the better journal of important events in my life.  I love reading previous notations and when I loan a book, I encourage friends to jot along as well.

I found a 2.5 lb package of squid at my local grocery.  I let it thaw and come to room temperature.  I used my kitchen shears to snip the small tube bodies into rings. This made 4 cups of squid for the salad. Put on 6-8 cups of water to come to a boil.  Your pasta put with strainer section is perfect for this.  Prepare a large bow of ice water for dunking cooked squid to stop the cooking process. I made the dressing before blanching the squid rings.
Dressing:
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 c rice wine
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, finally chopped
2 tablespoons crushed peanuts
1/4 cup fish sauce
Combine all ingredients well. Let sit.

For the dressing

Back to the squid rings.  Place the squid rings in the boiling water for 60-90 seconds. SECONDS is correct.  Remove, drain hot water and immediately dump squid rings into the ice water being sure to submerge all pieces.

Pretty blanched squid rings

Dressing going onto the squid rings.

When thoroughly cooled transfer squid to bowl with dressing and toss thoroughly.








Serve on a bed of crisp greens with a side a bowl of soup or serve with crackers or a favorite bread or as here, with a hot tea.  Enjoy.

This salad keeps well in the fridge for three days but it never lasts that long in my house.