Recipe
Goi ga — chicken salad with rau ram
- Herb:
- Vietnamese coriander Persicaria odorata
- Method:
- Culinary use
- Plant part:
- Leaf
About 25 minBeginnerRecipe science profile
Procedure
- Shred 300 g of cooked chicken; cut half a white cabbage and a carrot into fine strips, salt them and squeeze out after 10 minutes.
- Mix the dressing: 2 tablespoons fish sauce, 2 tablespoons lime juice, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 garlic clove and chilli, finely chopped.
- Toss the cabbage, carrot, chicken and thinly sliced onion with the dressing.
- Just before serving fold in a handful of torn rau ram leaves and scatter with roasted peanuts.
Extraction
- Herb:
- 1 hrst (asi 20 g) čerstvých listů rau răm na 4 porce salátu
- Solvent:
- žádné — listy se trhají do salátu syrové až před podáváním
- Shelf life:
- sníst hned; salát bez listů 1 den v lednici
- Target compounds:
- aldehydy silice (dekanal, dodekanal) voní jen z čerstvého listu; teplem se ztrácejí
Notes
A classic Vietnamese salad; rau ram is a seasoning herb, added raw and never cooked. No health claims.
Why it works
The scent of rau ram — coriander-like with a citrus and peppery note — comes, per the analysis by Dung et al. 1995, mainly from the aliphatic aldehydes decanal and dodecanal, which are volatile and break down with heat, so the herb is added only raw and at the end. The Vietnamese folk belief that rau ram 'cools' and dampens desire is not clinically documented; it is a flavouring herb.
Literature
- Dũng NX, Hac LV, Leclercq PA (1995): Volatile Constituents of the Aerial Parts of Vietnamese Polygonum odoratum L. Journal of Essential Oil Research 7(3):339–340 — Složení silice: dominují alifatické aldehydy dekanal a dodekanal.
Related
Vietnamese coriander — Herb card
Culinary use — Processing method detail