One of Australia’s firm favourites, Wombok Salad is great to roll out at BBQs and family gatherings. A light, flavour-packed salad, with soft cabbage, crispy noodles and sesame dressing, it’s always a winner.
Is there a more popular side dish or salad than Wombok Salad? It’s always a good BBQ or get-together if someone rolls this dish out, and I’ll never pass it by. I’m not sure what other family’s call it, I’ve heard it called cabbage salad, crispy noodle salad or even Chang’s Salad. All I know is that it’s bloody delicious, don’t you think?
When it comes to salads, there’s no doubt this crispy salad is the queen, you might also like to try Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Salad, Mum’s Creamy Potato Salad, or Mexican Sweetcorn Salad.
How to make Wombok Salad
How early can I make Wombok Salad? You can assemble this salad up to half an hour before serving, nothing more than that. Unfortunately it can get soggy if made too early. You can chop your cabbage and spring onions ahead of time though, and also make the dressing ahead of time too.
What goes with Wombok Salad? A BBQ chicken makes an easy dinner with this cabbage salad, otherwise our favourite is pork belly. We cook ours in the air-fryer, and it makes for a moorish, easy dinner.
How to make Wombok Salad Dressing
The salad dressing, like many salads, is the magic in this recipe. To make the dressing, place all the dressing ingredients into a small saucepan; combine the white vinegar, caster sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil and olive oil. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved.
The dressing will need to be cooled completely before dressing the salad. You can make ahead and place in the fridge to cool.
For a cheeky, cheat-y salad dressing, you can buy the Chang’s Salad Dressing (around $3). All you have to do is add light olive oil.
Tips for making this crispy noodle salad:
Don’t make this salad ahead of time. This recipe isn’t one that you want to make a day before, or even hours before. You can chop up the cabbage and spring onions, and even toast the almonds ahead, but it’s best to assemble just before eating.
When it comes to cabbage, Wombok is best. It’s a softer cabbage and easy to eat. If I’m cooking for a large crowd, I will sometimes combine 1/2 a Chinese Cabbage/Wombok, and then 1/2 a normal cabbage.
Swap out almonds for pinenuts. I alternate which nuts I use, depending on what I have left in the pantry. Pinenuts will need to be toasted as well.
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Wombok Salad
Ingredients
1/2 large Chinese cabbage/Wombok
6 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal
100g slivered almonds
1 packet Chang’s Fried Noodles
DRESSING
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 cup light olive oil
Instructions
1. In a small saucepan, combine the white vinegar, caster sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil and olive oil. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Cool completely. (This can be made ahead and stored in the fridge.)
2. Slice the Chinese Cabbage (Wombok) into slices (around 1/2-1cm thick). Slice from the top of the cabbage (where the leaves are softer) down to within 5cm of the base of the cabbage. This part of the cabbage is thicker, so slice thinner if possible.
3. Lightly toast the slivered almonds in a dry frying pan over medium heat. Keep an eye on these as they can burn quickly!
4. Combine the cabbage, spring onions, and almonds. Drizzle over dressing and toss to coat. Scatter over the Chang’s Fried Noodles and serve immediately.
Notes
TO MAKE AHEAD: This salad isn’t one that you can make up in advance. The cabbage and noodles absorb the dressing and can become soggy quickly. If you want to make ahead, simply chop the cabbage and spring onion and store in an airtight container, and make the dressing. Just before serving add the noodles and almonds, and then dress.
