Description
Vietnamese Squid or Calamari Salad (Goi Muc) is a refreshing appetizer perfect alongside any meal. Tossed with a sweet, salty, sour, and spicy fish sauce dressing, this light dish is packed with crunchy veggies and fresh herbs. The addition of fried garlic gives it an extra layer of flavor and texture.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Salad/Squid
- 1/2 lb squid (tentancles and/or rings)
- 1 knob ginger (unpeel, smash)
- 2 cups pickled daikon and carrot
- 2 cups thinly sliced cucumber (remove seeds)
- 1 cup mint leaves or Vietnamese mint/coriander (rau ram) leaves
- 1/4 cup sliced white/yellow onions (soak in cold water for 10 minutes then drain)
- Shrimp or sesame crackers (optional; place in microwave until puffy)
- 2 tablespoons fried garlic
Dressing
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- Thai chili peppers (optional)
Instructions
- Clean the Squid: If using whole squid, make sure to clean it properly. Peel the outside dark purplish skin off as much as you can, particularly around the body. Pull apart the head and tail with a slight twisting motion. The head, innards and the long transparent quill should easily slip out of the body. Place your knife just behind the eyes and cut to separate the tentacles in one piece. Cut away the inedible bony piece of cartilage (beak) at the center of the tentacles. Tentacles are edible and delicious. Keep them in your salad! Discard the eye end. Slice body into rings. Wash the squid in cold water a few times and drain until water is no longer bubbly (Bubbly? What? You will see what I mean when washing fresh squid).
- Cook the Squid: Place squid in small pot. Add ginger. There’s no need for water as squid releases a lot of water naturally. Cover pot and cook for 1-2 minutes. Make sure to not overcook to keep squid tender. Drain and set aside.
- Prepare the Salad: In a medium-size bowl, mix together pickled carrot/daikon, cucumber, mint and onion. Toss in cooked squid.
- Make the Dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients. Add half of dressing to squid and toss lightly. Allow the squid to marinate for 10 minutes.
- Assemble and Serve: Toss squid into the salad. Top salad with fried garlic and serve with optional shrimp or sesame crackers and the rest of the dressing on the side.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 5
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Vietnamese