
Oh. My. Yumms! If you haven’t tried nuóc châm yet, now’s the perfect time. It takes our Kale, Mango and Avocado salad to a whole new level! This sweet, salty, spicy and savory dressing brings in the soothing depth of umami, adding both flavour and dimension. I promise, once you’ve had it once, you’ll have it on repeat!
The Flavour Affair:
Kale + Mango + Avocado + Nuóc Châm + Sesame Seeds + Cilantro
This salad proves you don’t need tons of ingredients to build big flavours! Just some fresh produce, a few pantry staples and a set of basic ‘building guidelines’ will help you create beautiful dishes, every time.

.
Basic Building Guidelines:
It’s all about the balance. When creating a dish, a salad in particular, we want to include all major taste components as well as a variety of textures. Think sweet, spicy, salty, fatty, sour/tangy, savory/bitter/astringent; for textures, consider soft and creamy, firm and crunchy, juicy and dry. Aim for 3-4 different textures and most of the flavours. It may sound like a lot, but in reality it’s easy! Let’s take a closer look at this Kale, Mango and Avocado salad:
Kale: slightly sour, subtly bitter, when massaged, kale becomes very soft and pleasant to the bite.
Mango: some varieties have a little tang and/or are smooth in texture, but for this dish we want a firm, juicy, sweet mango – Thai or R2E2 are my favourite options.
Avocado: go for nutty and subtly sweet ripe avocados for that silky creaminess.
Sesame Seeds: also nutty and earthy, they are great with avocado and bring in a nice crunch.
Cilantro: fresh and citrusy for a bright, invigorating finish.
Now, we’ve got a great selection of textures! Also quite a few flavours, but some of the important ones are still missing. And that’s when a dressing comes in super handy. Nuóc châm here has all the missing components:
- Salty and savory fish sauce, with an added benefit of umami to make it extra special;
- Tangy, acidic lime juice;
- Hot and spicy red chili flakes;
- Sweet brown sugar.
This is a basic set for nuóc châm. Some versions also include white rice vinegar and minced garlic, but even without those, all the bases are now covered! Except for the fatty bit – but adding a little oil when massaging the kale will help with that.
Preparation Tips for Kale, Mango and Avocado Salad with Nuóc Châm Dressing:
- Start with the dressing. Whisk together 2 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp water and 1 tbsp brown sugar until the sugar dissolves. Add 2 tbsp fish sauce and 1 tbsp rice vinegar (optional, can be swapped with 0.5 extra tbsp lime juice – but is helps balance acidity without the extra sourness). Leave the chili flakes out for now.

- Wash the kale and pat it dry. Remove the leaves off the stems and tear them into smaller bits. For 2 persons, you will need about 4-5 stalks, which will yield around 80g of leaves. Place them into a large bowl.
- Add 2 tbsp of the dressing to the bowl with kale. Gently massage the leaves until they start to soften. Add 1 tbsp neutral oil and continue to massage until all leaves gave darkened and softened.
- Cut mango and avocado into small-ish cubes and add into the bowl. Gently toss to combine and transfer onto a serving plate.
- Add 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes to the remaining dressing and pour over the salad.
- Quickly toast sesame seeds on a sry pan until they turn golden brown. You can use a mix of white and black seeds. Scatter them over together with fresh cilantro.
Alternative Ingredients and Variations:
If you don’t have fish sauce, or simply aren’t a fan, substitute it with dark soy sauce or the unpronounceable Worcestershire sauce. Use lemon in place of lime, and swap white rice vinegar for apple cider vinegar. You can also use honey in place of sugar. If you can’t find mango, try pineapple or nectarine instead.
This salad does very well with more crunchy, slightly pungent additions, such as red radish or daikon, scallions or red onions. And that can add a nice pop of color:


.
Serving Suggestions for Kale, Mango and Avocado Salad with Nuóc Châm Dressing:
I served it as a side to salmon teriyaki bites, and it was a-ma-zing. There was also white rice, and I drizzled whatever was left of the dressing over it – soooooo good.


.
Alternatively, you can quite simply add some poached salmon, fried prawn, seared scallops or tuna directly into the salad bowl – that would make a fabulous dinner! It will work equally well as a side to savory chicken, such as adobo or teriyaki. Or maybe duck breast marinated with soy sauce and orange. Lots of options to get creative improvise!
Check some of the below recipes for more inspiration:
Asian Style Cucumber and Kale Salad
Fried Prawns with Mango, Avocado and Spicy Lime Dressing
Kale Salad with Avocado, Roasted Peppers and Parmesan
.

Kale, Mango and Avocado Salad with Nuóc Châm Dressing
Ingredients
- 80 g kale leaves torn (from about 4-5 stems)
- 1/2 large mango
- 1 avocado
- 1 tbsp white sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
For nuoc cham dressing:
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp white rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp hot water
Instructions
- Prepare the dressing: whisk together lime juice, water and brown sugar until the sugar dissolves. Stir in vinegar and fish sauce.
- Heat a small pan to medium-high and dry toast sesame seeds for 1-2 minutes until they start to darken.
- Cut the mango half into about 1cm thick slices. Take the out peel off with a sharp knife, then cut the pieces into small cubes.
- Cut the avocado in half and extract the seed. With a spoon, scoop out the flesh. Slice each half into two pieces horizontally, then cut into small cubes.
- Place torn kale into a large bowl.
- Add 2 tbsp of nuoc cham dressing and 1 tbsp of oil. Gently massage the leaves until they’ve softened and turned brighter.
- Add mango and avocado cubes to the same bowl and gently toss to combine.
- Transfer to a serving plate or bowl.
- Sprinkle over the remaining nuoc cham dressing and scatter around sesame seeds and cilantro leaves.
Notes
- Go for sweet mango that is ripe yet firm enough to hold the shape when cut. Thai or R2E2 mangoes are my favourite.
- This salad does not keep well and is best consumed immediately.














62 Responses
GELATIN HORSE RECIPE
At this time it looks like WordPress is the top blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
I have been exploring for a bit for any high-quality articles or weblog posts in this kind of space . Exploring in Yahoo I ultimately stumbled upon this site. Reading this info So i am glad to express that I have a very good uncanny feeling I found out just what I needed. I so much unquestionably will make certain to don’t disregard this website and give it a glance regularly.
Hi there just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading properly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different web browsers and both show the same results.
Gelatin Horse Trick
As I website possessor I believe the content matter here is rattling wonderful , appreciate it for your hard work. You should keep it up forever! Best of luck.
My coder is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress on various websites for about a year and am nervous about switching to another platform. I have heard excellent things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can import all my wordpress content into it? Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!
fantastic post, very informative. I wonder why the other specialists of this sector don’t notice this. You must continue your writing. I am sure, you have a huge readers’ base already!
Hey there, You have performed a great job. I will certainly digg it and for my part suggest to my friends. I’m confident they will be benefited from this website.
Pretty component to content. I simply stumbled upon your weblog and in accession capital to assert that I get in fact loved account your blog posts. Anyway I will be subscribing for your augment or even I fulfillment you get right of entry to constantly quickly.
Perfect work you have done, this web site is really cool with superb info .
Thank you for the good writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to far added agreeable from you! However, how could we communicate?
Merely wanna admit that this is extremely helpful, Thanks for taking your time to write this.
I am glad to be one of several visitants on this outstanding site (:, appreciate it for posting.
It’s actually a great and useful piece of info. I am happy that you just shared this helpful information with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.
Keep up the excellent piece of work, I read few blog posts on this website and I conceive that your blog is really interesting and holds sets of great info .
What i do not realize is actually how you are now not actually a lot more smartly-favored than you may be right now. You are so intelligent. You know thus considerably with regards to this topic, made me personally believe it from a lot of varied angles. Its like men and women are not involved until it is one thing to accomplish with Girl gaga! Your individual stuffs great. Always deal with it up!
Hey there, You have performed an incredible job. I will definitely digg it and individually recommend to my friends. I’m sure they will be benefited from this website.
Hello there, You have performed a fantastic job. I will definitely digg it and individually suggest to my friends. I am confident they’ll be benefited from this web site.
Hey there, You’ve performed an excellent job. I’ll definitely digg it and in my opinion suggest to my friends. I’m sure they will be benefited from this website.
Horse Gelatin for men
I have read a few good stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how much attempt you put to create this kind of wonderful informative website.
Hi there, You have performed a fantastic job. I’ll definitely digg it and personally recommend to my friends. I am sure they’ll be benefited from this web site.
Appreciate it for this marvellous post, I am glad I detected this internet site on yahoo.
Hydrogen Peroxide Trick For Men
Hi there, You have done a great job. I’ll definitely digg it and individually recommend to my friends. I am confident they will be benefited from this website.
Very excellent information can be found on website. “Every artist was first an amateur.” by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
I got what you mean , appreciate it for putting up.Woh I am thankful to find this website through google.
There are certainly loads of details like that to take into consideration. That could be a nice point to bring up. I provide the ideas above as normal inspiration but clearly there are questions just like the one you carry up where an important thing shall be working in sincere good faith. I don?t know if best practices have emerged round issues like that, but I’m positive that your job is clearly identified as a fair game. Each girls and boys feel the impression of only a moment’s pleasure, for the remainder of their lives.
Hi, Neat post. There’s an issue with your site in internet explorer, would test this… IE still is the marketplace leader and a good section of other folks will leave out your fantastic writing because of this problem.
At this time it looks like Movable Type is the preferred blogging platform out there right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
You are my intake, I own few web logs and sometimes run out from to post : (.
Right now it sounds like Expression Engine is the top blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
Thank you for helping out, excellent info. “If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. Men will believe what they see.” by Henry David Thoreau.
hello!,I like your writing so much! proportion we keep up a correspondence more about your article on AOL? I need a specialist on this area to unravel my problem. Maybe that’s you! Looking ahead to peer you.
Unquestionably believe that which you stated. Your favorite reason seemed to be on the internet the easiest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I certainly get annoyed while people think about worries that they plainly do not know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and defined out the whole thing without having side-effects , people can take a signal. Will probably be back to get more. Thanks
Hello are using WordPress for your site platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and create my own. Do you require any html coding expertise to make your own blog? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
As I web site possessor I believe the content matter here is rattling excellent , appreciate it for your efforts. You should keep it up forever! Good Luck.
Some really nice and useful info on this internet site, likewise I think the design and style has superb features.
Does your website have a contact page? I’m having a tough time locating it but, I’d like to shoot you an email. I’ve got some creative ideas for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great website and I look forward to seeing it develop over time.
Great awesome issues here. I am very glad to peer your article. Thank you so much and i am having a look ahead to contact you. Will you please drop me a mail?
Sweet internet site, super design, real clean and utilize genial.
Keep up the excellent piece of work, I read few articles on this web site and I believe that your site is rattling interesting and holds sets of wonderful information.
You can definitely see your expertise in the work you write. The world hopes for even more passionate writers like you who aren’t afraid to say how they believe. Always go after your heart.
Hi my friend! I want to say that this post is amazing, great written and come with almost all important infos. I would like to peer more posts like this .
This is the right blog for anyone who wants to find out about this topic. You realize so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually would want…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just great!
Your style is so unique compared to many other people. Thank you for publishing when you have the opportunity,Guess I will just make this bookmarked.
Pretty! This was a really wonderful post. Thank you for your provided information.
Very interesting topic, appreciate it for putting up.
Simply wish to say your article is as surprising. The clearness in your post is simply nice and i can assume you’re an expert on this subject. Fine with your permission allow me to grab your feed to keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please continue the rewarding work.
Very interesting subject, thank you for putting up.
Hello, Neat post. There’s a problem along with your website in internet explorer, may check thisK IE still is the marketplace chief and a good component of folks will leave out your magnificent writing because of this problem.
Of course, what a fantastic website and instructive posts, I definitely will bookmark your website.All the Best!
I just could not go away your website prior to suggesting that I actually enjoyed the usual information an individual supply on your visitors? Is going to be back continuously to check out new posts.
Some genuinely fantastic info , Gladiola I discovered this. “War does not determine who is right – only who is left.” by Bertrand Russell.
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with some pics to drive the message home a little bit, but instead of that, this is wonderful blog. A fantastic read. I’ll definitely be back.
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own blog and was wondering what all is required to get setup? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I’m not very web savvy so I’m not 100 sure. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
There’s noticeably a bundle to learn about this. I assume you made sure nice points in options also.
I’m still learning from you, as I’m improving myself. I absolutely enjoy reading all that is posted on your blog.Keep the stories coming. I loved it!
Nice post. I learn something more challenging on different blogs everyday. It will always be stimulating to read content from other writers and practice a little something from their store. I’d prefer to use some with the content on my blog whether you don’t mind. Natually I’ll give you a link on your web blog. Thanks for sharing.
I think other web site proprietors should take this site as an model, very clean and magnificent user friendly style and design, as well as the content. You are an expert in this topic!
I really like your writing style, excellent information, thanks for posting :D. “Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.” by Feodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky.