Thai Cobb Salad with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette

Golden Diner's take on the American classic.

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ICYMI, last week I chatted with Sam Yoo of Golden Diner. This week I have a recipe for the Thai Cobb Salad that shows up on their menus everywhere except brunch (all the more reason to avoid the brunch crowds). It shares some similarities with the American Classic (soft boiled eggs & bacon), but it gets a bright twist with the addition of Asian herbs and a zippy, fish sauce vinaigrette.

This, like other recipes I’ve gotten from restaurants, came to with me measurements in grams, so I had to finagle a bit to adapt this recipe for the newsletter. The original recipe calls for cane vinegar, but after visits to 3 stores in Manhattan’s Chinatown, I surprisingly could not find it anywhere. I tested rice wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, and a mix of both. The apple cider vinegar was the best version to me because it let the fish sauce shine through. But if all you have is rice wine vinegar, that’s fine too. I wouldn’t use white wine or red wine vinegar.

What is pleasing to me about this salad is the crunchy, herby-ness of it all. The dressing links everything together, but I think there’s room here to use whatever you have or other things you’re craving. In the restaurant, this is served with sliced red bell peppers, but the sugar snap peas were calling to me at the market. I think whatever you choose, pick vegetables with a snappy-wet crunch (bell peppers, cucumbers, bean sprouts, sugar snap peas) as opposed to those with a more fibrous crunch (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts). I don’t think those vegetables are a bad choice, but they lack the wet crunch that the other vegetables have.

Is “wet crunch” weird? Maybe, but I said what I said.

Thai Cobb Salad with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette

Serves 2 (but you’ll probably have leftover dressing)

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fish sauce

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1 small Thai chili, finely diced

1/3 cup neutral oil

1 small clove garlic, microplaned

2 heads little gem lettuce (or 1 head of romaine)

2 eggs

4 slices bacon

Handful of beansprouts (about 1/3 cup)

1 carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks

Handful of sugar snap peas (about 1/3 cup), sliced

1 small radish, thinly sliced

Handful of Asian herbs (Thai basil, cilantro, mint), torn into small pieces

1 small Persian cucumber, thinly sliced

1 scallion, thinly sliced

1/3 cup unsalted, unroasted peanuts, lightly chopped

Fill a pot of small water and bring it to a boil. Add the eggs and cook for about 7ish minutes for a jammy egg. If you don’t like a jammy egg, feel free to cook longer to set the yoke more.

Set an oven or toaster oven to 400 degrees. Line the bacon on a sheet tray and cook until super crispy, about 10 minutes. Crumble when cool.

Toast the peanuts over medium heat until they start to get color, about 4 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Whisk together the fish sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, Thai chili, sugar, oil, and garlic and set aside.

Gently toss your lettuce with dressing and arrange on the place. Top with all of your sliced vegetables and drizzle some more dressing on top. Arrange the egg and bacon on your plate.