Head Chef Nguyễn Như Cường at Madame Lam contemporary Vietnamese restaurant.

With Chef Nguyễn Như Cường, head chef of Madame Lam, a Michelin-selected Vietnamese cuisine restaurant in HCM City.

Born into a family with a culinary tradition in the former central coastal province of Bình Định, now part of enlarged Gia Lai Province, Executive Chef Cường has spent several years working at international hotels and restaurants.

He now focuses on cooking Vietnamese cuisine, both traditional and contemporary, at Madame Lam.

Salad is one of the most popular starters at Madame Lam Restaurant, the chef said.

The dish offers a perfect balance of the light sourness of pomelo and dragon fruit, while the special home-made sauce enhances the unique flavour and taste of the salad.

Green skin pomelo and red dragon fruit salad with fresh shrimp and dry squid

Ingredients: for one serving

Green skin pomelo (detach vesicles from pomelo pulps): 120g

Red dragon fruit: half with the fruit scooped (as seen in photo)

Fresh shrimp: 50g

Dry squid: 5g

Special home-made fish sauce: 40g

Mint leaves and herbs: 3g

Roasted peanuts: to your liking

Well-chopped garlic and onion: ½ tsp

Cooking oil: 1tsp

Green skin pomelo and red dragon fruit salad with fresh shrimp and dry squid.

Preparation:

- Wash, peel and cut the shrimp in half lengthwise, then stir-fry briefly with chopped garlic and onion.

- Wash the mint leaves and herbs and cut them into fine threads

- Remove the skin of the pomelo, then detach the vesicles from pomelo pulp.

- Cut the dragon fruit in half, use a spoon to scoop out all the pulp, then set aside the peel.

- Roast the peanuts until they turn golden and crush them into small pieces.

- Grill the dry squid and tear it into fine threads

- Mix the shrimp, squid, mint leaves, herbs and pomelo gently with the home-made sauce.

- Place the mixture in the dragon fruit peel, add scooped dragon fruit, then garnish with roasted peanuts and herbs on top (as seen in photo) and enjoy.

Honoured in the Michelin-selected list for three consecutive years, Madame Lam is dedicated to contemporary Vietnamese cuisine, where traditional flavours are presented through a modern, refined, and multidimensional culinary lens in a warm and elegant Vietnamese heritage setting.

The restaurant is located at 10 Trần Ngọc Diện Street, An Khánh Ward, HCM City.

For reservations, call 07 0322 6262.— VNS