Vietnamese Crab and Squid Salad

This light and tasty summer salad is always a hit whenever I make it. I was lucky enough to make it on a beautiful yacht last week. I used crab meat and squid with this version but you can leave either out depending on your taste and what is available.

What you will need 
The Salad 
2 tubes of squid 500g of crab meat 
1/2 cucumber (thinly julienned) 
1 mango (chopped into small chunks) 300g of bean shoots 
3 or 4 kaffir lime leaves (finely chiffonade) 
A good helping of mint and coriander for garnishing 


The dressing 
2 tablespoon of fish sauce 
1 tablespoon of palm sugar (melted) 
1 bird's eye chilli (finely chopped) 
dash of white pepper to taste 
The juice of 2 limes 
3 tablespoons of water

1. Place your crab meat and marinate in a bit of lime juice and fish sauce 
2. Score your squid tubes and cut into 2cm by 3cm rectangular pieces 
3. Pour tablespoon of oil in a pan and sear the squid pieces, being careful not to overcook the squid ( if you forget about your squid it will become tough like boots) 
4. Start by layering your bean shoots, cucumber and mango to your liking Place the crab and squid over your vegetables 
5. Generously place the garnishing of kaffir lime leaves and coriander over your salad 
6. Mix all the ingredients of your sauces together and pour over your salad 
7. Give your salad a good toss before serving! 

You are ready to roll with your beautifully colourful and delicious crab and squid salad! Let me know what you guys think and whether you have suggestions.