Gỏi Bưởi Recipe (Vietnamese Pomelo Salad)

Goi Buoi Recipe

Pomelo (also known as pummelo or pommelo) is the largest citrus fruit, native to South and Southeast Asia with a sweet and slightly sour flavor, a kind of sweeter grapefruit, very popular in Vietnam.

Pomelo has very little or none of the common grapefruit’s bitterness, but the enveloping membranes around the segments are bitter, so, they must be discarded.

Piles of pomelo populate markets all over Vietnam, especially from September to November. Dipped in spicy chili salt, they are a typical Vietnamese snack.
If people from southern Vietnam mainly use pomelo to make natural juice, in northern Vietnam, people use it to prepare a salad that they call gỏi bưởi (pomelo salad).

So, let’s see how we can prepare this vary tasty and light salad ourselves. (:

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 lb. (100 g.) chicken breast (you can use pork chop instead if you prefer)
1/4 lb. (100 g.) small shrimp, deveined
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. fish sauce (or soy sauce)
1 large pomelo or 2 large grapefruits (grapefruit will change a bit the taste of the dish, but I’ve tried it with both and it’s tasty either way)
1/2 cup carrots, sliced julienne
1/2 cup mint leaves, sliced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 long red chili peppers, cut into thin rings or fine julienne
1/4 cup Peanuts, roasted and chopped

Boil the chicken until cooked, plunge the meat in ice water for 10 minutes, then drain and julienne, about 1/8 inch (0.3 cm.) thick.

Cook the shrimp in boiling salted water until cooked, about 3 to 5 minutes. Cool in ice water for 5 minutes, then cut them in half, lengthwise.

In a pan, mix sugar, salt and fish (or soy) sauce. Put on fire and simmer until sugar and salt dissolve, then set aside.

Peel pomelo (as you peel an orange), then discard the membranes that encase each segment.

Cut the segments (the pulp) in small pieces, about 1/4-inch (1 cm.).

In a bowl mix the pomelo with the chicken, shrimp, carrots, mint, cilantro and chilies peppers. Drizzle with dressing and toss.

Adjust seasoning with sugar, salt or soy sauce to your taste, then garnish with peanuts.

It can be served with shrimp chips on the side. Enjoy the meal! (: