When I spied heads of beautiful Napa cabbage that were as large as a small child at the market I knew I had to scoop one up to make this amazing salad. The flavors of the sweet but not too sweet, slightly salty, umami dressing and the crunchy, nutty, topping tossed with the tender but crisp Napa cabbage is absolutely, mouthwateringly, delightful! The hardest part of making this salad is planning ahead to allow for the dressing and crunchy topping to cool off before tossing it with the cabbage mixture. Once you try this salad you will be going back for seconds, probably even thirds. It’s that good!
How To Make Oriental Salad:
Start by making the dressing since it needs to cool to room temperature. Place vegetable oil, vinegar and soy sauce in a sauce pan.
Add sugar and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
Stir and simmer until sugar has completely dissolved.
Remove dressing from heat and allow it to cool to room temperature. Transfer dressing to a jar with a tight fitting lid.
Make the crunchy topping:
Break up the ramen noodles into bite sized chunks and discard the seasoning packets.
If anyone has any suggestions about what to do with those discarded seasoning packets, please let me know. I come across so many recipes that say to save them for other uses. What other uses?!?!
I use my fists to break up the crunchy block of noodles until it looks like the picture below.
Gather together the topping ingredients while you melt the butter in a large skillet.
Add sliced almonds, and sesame seeds to the melted butter in the pan.
Add the broken up Ramen noodles to the pan.
Toss with the butter to coat and cook until lightly toasted, stirring frequently. Keep an eye on it. You want everything lightly toasted to bring out all the flavors, but it can burn easily so don’t walk away from the pan.
Once everything is a nice golden brown and toasted, remove from the pan and allow to cool to room temperate.
Make the salad:
Slice the Napa cabbage into thin strips and place it in a large serving bowl.
Add the sliced green onions to the bowl.
Add the cooled crunchy topping to the bowl. Shake the cooled dressing well in the jar to combine it and pour it over the cabbage and the toasted toppings in the serving bowl.
TIP: Make it a meal by adding shredded rotisserie chicken.
Toss to coat everything with the dressing. Serve immediately.
TIP: You can prep the salad, make the dressing and the crunchy toppings ahead of time, but wait until right before you are going to serve the salad to toss it with the dressing so the cabbage stays nice and crisp.
This salad has been on repeat for me ever since the temperatures have started to soar. It’s absolutely delicious! Once you have a serving, I guarantee you will end up going back for more. The smoky, sweet dressing and crunchy, savory toppings combined with the light and tender cabbage make it mouthwateringly good and you just can’t stop eating it. Add some shredded rotisserie chicken to it and you have one of tastiest light and refreshing meals to enjoy all summer long.
Oriental Salad
Ingredients
- 1 medium head Napa cabbage, thinly sliced
- 2 bunches green onions, sliced
For the Dressing:
- ¼ cup vinegar
- ½ cup sugar
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
For the Topping:
- 2 pkgs Ramen noodle soup, discard seasoning packets
- 2 oz sesame seeds
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- 4 tbsp butter
Instructions
Make the dressing:
- Place vegetable oil, vinegar and soy sauce in a sauce pan.
- Add sugar and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
- Stir and simmer until sugar has completely dissolved.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Transfer to a jar with a tight fitting lid.
Make the crunchy topping:
- Break up ramen noodles into chunks. Discard seasoning packets.
- Melt butter in a large skillet.
- add Ramen noodles, sliced almonds and sesame seeds to the pan.
- Cook until lightly toasted, stirring frequently.
- Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperate.
Make the salad:
- Slice Napa cabbage into thin strips and place in a large serving bowl.
- Add sliced green onions to the bowl.
- Add the cooled crunchy topping to the bowl.
- Shake cooled dressing well to combine and pour it over the cabbage and toasted toppings in the serving bowl.
- Toss to coat everything with the dressing. Serve immediately.
Did You Make This?
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