Crunchy Vegetable Salad

Late August. Linh and I had lunch Wednesday at Tien Tien on Bellaire — her favorite Cantonese place, which she insists on going to every two months because the dim sum cart is still the dim sum cart and she refuses to eat dim sum from a menu. Linh is sixty. She has been a pediatrician at the Medical Center for thirty-one years. She is starting to talk about retirement, not seriously, but in the way that people who plan their retirements talk about them for ten years before pulling the trigger. Linh is a planner. She will retire in 2040 at sixty-eight. She has told me this. I believe her.

We talked about Mai. Linh said Mai's endurance is remarkable but the body is the body and the body keeps a calendar. Mai had a cardiologist appointment last week. Blood pressure stable on medication. Heart strong. Hip joint showing wear, especially the right one — not surgery-level yet, but on the watch list. Linh said, "She's not going to live forever, Bao." I said, "I know." Linh said, "But she's also not going to die soon. Just don't lose track of the time we have." I nodded. We ate har gow in silence for a minute. Then we ordered the turnip cake.

Mai herself is still going. She made pho Saturday. She made the broth herself, but Linh's daughter Mei, in for the weekend from Dallas, did the ginger char and onion charring at Mai's direction. Mai is delegating now, which is a new posture for her. Mei was patient and respectful and asked questions about why and how and Mai answered them slowly, fully, the way you teach when you're not sure how many more times you'll teach this. The Vietnamese verb for "teaching" is "dạy" and it carries a weight in our family that I can't translate. Mai was dạy-ing Mei. Mai was leaving the recipe in another hand.

Made smoked duck Sunday — Vietnamese-style with a five-spice and brown sugar dry rub, smoked over cherry wood for four hours, and finished with a hoisin-fish sauce glaze. Served with steamed buns (the Chinese-style folded ones, not the bao), pickled vegetables, hoisin, scallions, and cucumber. Fold your own. James came over. James and Lily and James's mother Grace, who was in town from Chicago for a long weekend. Five of us at the table making little duck buns. Grace said, "This is what I want for Christmas." I said, "Then come for Christmas." She said, "Maybe I will." Maybe she will.

The smoked duck was always going to be the centerpiece — four hours over cherry wood, that glaze, those folded buns — but a table of five needs something cool and sharp to cut through the richness, something you can pile on the side of your plate between pulls of duck. This Crunchy Vegetable Salad is what I reach for in those moments: it’s the kind of dish that doesn’t ask for attention but earns it, the same way Grace quietly said “maybe I will” and meant it. Make it ahead, let it sit, bring it out when everyone’s already standing around the table.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 20 min (plus 30 min chill) | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 cups shredded green cabbage
1 cup shredded purple cabbage
1 cup thinly sliced cucumber (about 1 medium)
1 cup matchstick-cut carrots
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1/2 cup thinly sliced radishes
1/4 cup sliced scallions (green parts only)
1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons neutral oil (such as avocado or grapeseed)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

Instructions

Prep the vegetables. Shred the cabbages, slice the cucumber into thin half-moons, cut the carrots into matchsticks, and thinly slice the celery and radishes. Combine all vegetables, scallions, and cilantro in a large mixing bowl.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the rice wine vinegar, neutral oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, salt, and red pepper flakes (if using) until the sugar and salt dissolve and the dressing is emulsified.
Dress the salad. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss thoroughly to coat. Taste and adjust salt or vinegar as needed.
Chill and rest. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. This allows the vegetables to soften slightly while retaining their crunch and lets the flavors meld together.
Finish and serve. Toss once more before serving, then transfer to a platter or serve directly from the bowl. Top with toasted sesame seeds just before bringing it to the table.

Nutrition (per serving)

Crunchy Vegetable Salad — The Side That Holds the Table Together