Name: Tiger Salad
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 5 stalks celery, sliced thin; 3 stalks green onion, sliced thin on a bias; 1 small bunch cilantro, roughly chopped (both leaves and tender stems only); 1 Thai red pepper (birds eye), deseeded and sliced; 1 bunch Thai basil, chiffonade; 2 tsp avocado oil; 2 tsp toasted sesame oil; 2 tsp fish sauce; 2 tsp low sodium tamari; 2 tbsp rice vinegar; 1 tbsp lime juice; 1 tsp coconut sugar; 1/2 to 3/4 cup Thai cashews (see notes), chopped

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This cooling yet spicy Thai celery salad is a refreshing and light salad that combines Thai and Chinese flavours for a flavour packed side. Known as a tiger salad, this easy side dish comes together fairly quickly after some chopping and can be prepped ahead to save time. This tiger salad has so much texture going on with the crunchy celery, cilantro, green onion and chopped cashews on top. If you’re looking for a new way to enjoy lots of celery, this is it.

tiger salad with celery, green onion and cilantro on a plate.

We recently went to NYC and had the best time. Of course, much of the trip was dedicated to finding and enjoying delicious bites, you can find all our fav spots here if you’re interested. And there were many to choose from! One of the spots we knew we had to try was Xi’an Famous Foods. It’s been around a while but we hadn’t ever had the chance to try it. If you love Chinese foods, hand pulled noodles and flavourful dishes, definitely go and check it out. One of their famous dishes (there are many) is Lao Hu Cai (also referred to as tiger vegetable salad). It has tons of crisp celery, lots of cilantro (tender stems and all), green onions and spicy Longhorn peppers. It’s then tossed in a sesame oil vinaigrette. My version of this tiger salad offers a Thai twist (simply because I love Thai food and flavours so much). I add fish sauce, Thai basil and crushed Thai spiced cashews. It’s inspired by Alison Roman’s celery salad recipe.

Ingredients

Here’s everything you’ll need to make this flavourful Thai celery salad.

celery
green onion
cilantro
Thai red pepper (birds eye) or serrano/jalapeño
Thai basil
avocado oil
toasted sesame oil
fish sauce
low sodium tamari
rice vinegar
lime juice
coconut sugar
Thai cashews (either these store bought ones from Trader Joe’s, or make your own version using my recipe here). Alternatively, you can use toasted cashews or peanuts instead.

How to Make a Tiger Salad

Making this refreshing tiger salad at home is quite easy, it just takes some prep work with the chopping.

Once you have the veggies chopped. Place the celery, onion, cilantro, pepper and Thai basil in a large salad bowl.

chopped celery, green onion and cilantro in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, mix together both oils, (avocado and sesame), fish sauce, tamari, vinegar, lime juice and sugar. Whisk until the sugar is incorporated.

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well to combine. Top with chopped cashews. Season to taste with kosher salt and fresh pepper.

Serve and enjoy!

Tips

Prep in advance: you can chop all the veggies in advance and store in a ziploc bag or container in the fridge. I would do this up to one day before.
Dress when ready to eat: the cilantro and Thai basil will get wilted, so only dress the tiger salad when you’re ready to enjoy it.
Finely slice: I recommend thinly slicing the celery and green onion on a bias. It looks better and it tastes better when the veggies are chopped similarly.

Substitutions

Thai chili pepper: you can use any spicy pepper you wish. I’d recommend using either serrano or jalapeño for a less spicy version.
Less spice: de-seed the peppers to reduce the heat.
Thai cashews: if you don’t have the Trader Joes Thai cashews and don’t feel like making them from scratch using my homemade version, just use regular toasted cashews or peanuts.
Cilantro: if you don’t love cilantro, this isn’t the salad for you! There isn’t a substitution for this much cilantro unfortunately.
Coconut sugar: substitute with honey or brown sugar.

Ingredients & Products I Recommend:

I share these products to show you what I choose to use in my kitchen as staple ingredients I use daily (or weekly). So if you opened up my fridge (or pantry), here’s what you’ll find!

Kosher salt:

I exclusively use Diamond Crystal kosher salt for all of my recipes. I prefer the texture, taste and consistency of this brand and highly recommend it for everyday cooking.

Avocado Oil:

I prefer using avocado oil for high heat cooking. I love using Chosen Foods avocado oil and their avocado oil spray.

Fish sauce:

I recommend getting a high quality one, such as this one from Red Boat. It’s a great brand, made with only anchovies and salt and doesn’t have any added sugar.

Low Sodium Tamari:

Tamari is a great option for those needing a gluten-free soy sauce. I’m not gluten-free, but still primarily use this brand. It’s not too salty and it tastes great.

More Salad Recipes

If you love a good salad, be sure to check these out!

Ready to make this? Let’s go!

If you make this tiger salad, please let me know by tagging me on Instagram, or leave a comment and/or review below!

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