I always like to serve a salad, particularly when we have a reasonably heavy meal so I came up with this easy Caribbean inspired slaw recipe that hit the spot perfectly when I served it with the Trinidadian Chicken Curry Roti; the coconut cream helped subdue the slight heat from the curry and it was very fresh and delicious. I based the recipe on this slaw that was inspired by Toronto Chef and Food Network Canada celebrity, Susur Lee. Keep the wet and dry ingredients separate until just before serving so that the slaw doesn’t get too sloppy and wet; wet ingredients would be the cucumber and the mango which may be stored together. The beauty of this slaw is the uniformity of each component, so take your time in grating, slicing and chopping.
Caribbean Inspired Slaw
Makes about 8 cups of slaw
Ingredients:
- 2 (about 2 cups) carrots, grated
- 1/2 (give or take 3 cups) savoy cabbage, shredded
- 1 green onion, finely sliced
- 1/2 (about 1 cup) English cucumber, grated
- 1 mango, grated
- 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup grated unsweetened coconut
- 1/4 cup coconut cream
- 1/2 tsp tamarind concentrate
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp honey
Directions:
- Combine the shredded cabbage with the green onion, grated carrots, cilantro and grated coconut, toss well to combine. Refrigerate until serving.
- Combine the grated cucumber and mango and toss well to combine. Refrigerate until serving.
- For the dressing, combine the coconut cream, tamarind, lime juice and honey and mix well. Refrigerate until serving.
- When ready to serve, combine the cabbage mixture with the cucumber mixture and toss well to combine. Add the dressing and toss well to combine. Garnish with additional grated coconut and cilantro. Serve immediately.
Great looking slaw Eva – packed with different flavours. Bet it was lovely! You know I have a feeling I’ve asked you this before but what is an “English cucumber”, and how does it differ from a… er… “Canadian” (??) cucumber?
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Hi Charles, thank you for your comment. Here in Canada we call an English cucumber the long ones that has seeds so soft that you can easily eat them and the peel is rather soft too http://harvestersfruitsveges.com/product/cucumber-english-1kg/. The regular cucumbers are shorter and squatter and have a thick skin which needs to be peeled and also have very insidious seeds which need to be removed, otherwise you’ll be picking seeds out of your teeth all night!
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Heh, who’d have thought? I love the thick-skinned cucumbers. They’re so much more satisfying to eat (skin and all since it gives you something to “bite” on instead of just green sludge). The flesh in the thick-skinned cucumbers is lovely and crisp!
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Actually, I find those thick skins a little bitter so my preference is the English Cucumber. You are right though, there is nothing lovelier than biting into that crisp, fresh flesh of the normal cucs!
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This is a really flavourful and crunchy salad. I love particularly the addition of coconut.
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Thanks so much Angie, it was a nice compliment to the curry.
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Coconut is one of my favourite ingredients so I’m automatically intrigued by its addition in this Eva! 🙂
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Thanks Lorraine, I love it too because it adds lovely texture and flavour and a touch of sweetness.
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I want to make this one, too, Eva! What yummy ingredients and appealing colors.
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Thanks so much Sharyn so nice of you to say. I hope you enjoy it.
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I’ve always felt a well-balanced slaw to be the perfect counter-point for a spicy dish and your slaw would certainly do that, Eva. It’s obvious that you heeded your own directive to take one’s time with the prep work. Your salad is so much more appealing as a result and it’s sure to add some color to any meal.
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Thank you John for your very flattering words. Fortunately for me, I have a very useful mandolin which helps to keep everything uniform and makes it quick work to create such a lovely slaw. It’s all about the right tools, isn’t it?
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Who needs an entree???? I could eat a big, beautiful bowl of this slaw for my dinner!!!
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Hi Liz, that’s exactly what I though too, just grill a few garlic-y lime shrimps and you’re all set!
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What a delicious looking salad! Lots of texture and flavor. Love the use of the coconut cream and tamarind. I have some tamarind in the pantry but have never use it. That’s for the inspiration!
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Thank you for your lovely comment MJ and welcome to my blog. I had a tamarind block in my pantry for a number of years and never used it until a couple of years ago, but I must say I like the tamarind concentrate, so much easier to use. It has a very unusual but moreish flavour, very sour and a little sweet which I love. I hope you do try to use it.
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What a great sounding slaw! I can’t wait to try this one out this summer. It would be perfect with all sorts of dishes and I imagine it was magnificent with the roti.
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Betsy, thank you so much for your kind words. I know you will love this slaw and I suspect it would go very well with some of the richly flavoured BBQs you have down south!
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oh la la! I love the Caribbean flavors you brought to this! Kicks it up a notch:)
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Thanks so much Jessica, so very kind of you to say.
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Nice one, sounds quite Thai from the ingredients.
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Hi Liz, yes indeed, I was inspired by the Thai flavours to come up with this dish and not surprisingly it really went well with the heavy Caribbean curry. Thank you for your comment.
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I like all the colours coming together it does seem very tropical 😀
Love the texture too as a side to many dishes!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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Hey CCU, thanks for your lovely comment.
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What an unusual salad! I love all the ingredients and I must admit I have never had grated coconut in a salad before. Excellent idea! You travel so often with your cooking! I wish I had so much energy at this end of winter…
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Thank you for your kind words Sissi. I too am quite tired of the winter and can’t wait for spring to finally emerge but I’m afraid we have a lot of snow to melt so I suspect it won’t be for some time.
It’s such fun to travel with the cooking and sharing it with you just adds to my enjoyment.
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The sweet flavours in this slaw, from the mango and honey , should definitely be a nice balance to any heat from the Caribbean curry. I always think Scotch bonnet when I think Caribbean/Jamaican. I’ve tried shredding using the large holes in my box grater but the results are never as nice as yours.
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Hi Maria, the large box grater is not as pretty as a mandolin with a grater attachment. I don’t have an expensive on, just one of those German one’s you generally see at the Home Show, where the demonstrator wears a microphone and talks a million miles a minute as he/she is demonstrating. It’s one of my favourite tools in the kitchen.
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I can’t wait to try this Eva
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I hope you enjoy it Zsuzsa, and I expect you to make it your own! I hope to see you blog about it.
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What an amazing slaw, this looks very flavorful and the colors just can’t be beat.
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Thanks so much for your kind words Cheri.
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Lovely grating and chopping skills Eva. I would like to get better about serving more salads. Unfortunately we are usually too pressed for time to make multiple dishes. Someday though. 🙂 Have a great Monday!
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Thanks for your kind words Kristy, using a mandolin really helps keep things uniform and that to me makes this dish. I usually only do multiple dishes for company, not everyday 😉
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Your slaw had to be the perfect compliment to your meal. Nice texture combinations.
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Thank you so much Karen, that’s very nice of you to say.
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This has a lot of flavours in it I really enjoy. I love tamarind and the crispiness of this coleslaw would be delicious. I love how you presented it, Eva and I can certainly imagine this would pack a lot punch in the flavour department xx
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Thank you so much Charlie, this recipe will be visited again and again particularly with the rôti. It’ll make a lovely summer meal.
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