Tropical Fruit Salad with Sweet Umami Dressing
This Tropical Fruit Salad With Sweet Umami Dressing is full of fresh fruit, as well as some other unexpected ingredients, like lightly toasted shallots and a sweet, sour, and funky dressing. The result is an irresistible combination that reminds us of something we’d eat in Thailand. Trust us on this one. You need to try it!
In Support of Funky Flavors
When we were growing up, weekends meant gathering around the kitchen island as our dad laid out homemade Thai dishes. There was always sticky rice that had been steamed in a bamboo basket, also pickled mustard greens, some sort of meat, and fish sauce with minced Thai peppers (prik namplaa). Additionally, we often had green (under ripe) mango coated in a sauce made from prik namplaa and a little sugar. It may sound different to some of you reading this right now, but to us, it’s one of the absolute best flavor combinations in the world.
Funky flavors are underrated. We often hear talk about the importance of sweet, savory, sour, and umami tastes, but really funky flavors like fish sauce don’t often get the respect they deserve in the U.S. A good funky taste can provide just as much balance as anything else, and in this dish, the fish sauce is totally necessary. With its fermented, funky, salty flavor, it gives depth to the tangy, sweet, and slightly bitter notes of the rest of this fruit salad. We often add salt to desserts here in the States, and what is fish sauce if not another type of savory seasoning?
Toasted shallots add just the right amount of nuttiness to the dish, and the sweetness from the toasted coconut, the freshness of the mint, a little sugar in the dressing, and a hint of lime juice round everything out. Overall, this is a killer salad.
Ingredients for this Tropical Fruit Salad
For this salad, you need a few different types of fruit. You’ll need something light and mild, something citrusy and a little bitter, and something tropical and sweet. You’ll also need fresh mint for brightness, toasted shallots and coconut for savory nuttiness, and the sweet umami dressing for additional umami flavor.
Sweet Umami Dressing
Here’s what you’ll need to make the dressing:
- Lime juice and zest – we love the bright flavor that the fresh lime juice and zest give to this dressing.
- Sugar – using just a little sugar in the dressing balances out the tartness.
- Fish sauce – it may sound weird to add fish sauce to a dressing, but it makes the dressing savory and adds such a great umami flavor.
Toasted Shallots & Coconut
You will need the following ingredients to make the toasted shallots and coconut that add so much depth of flavor to this salad:
- Shallots – when shallots roast, they get a little sweet. That sweetness pairs perfectly with the coconut.
- Coconut chips – make sure you aren’t using desiccated or shredded coconut. These should be coconut chips, like these here, and they should be unsweetened.
- Sugar – adding a little sugar helps the shallots and coconut toast up.
Tropical Fruit Salad
The rest of the tropical fruit salad ingredients are:
- Pomelo – if you can’t find pomelo, you could use grapefruit.
- Dragon fruit – any color is fine. If you can’t find this, you could also use kiwi instead.
- Mango – we love green/under ripe mangos too, but for this salad, we prefer ripe and sweet mangos.
- Fresh mint – the mint gives this salad a fresh flavor.
- Sweet Umami Dressing
- Toasted shallots & coconut
Making the Tropical Fruit Salad
First, you will want to toast the shallots and coconut. Preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss the shallots with the granulated sugar, salt, and neutral oil and place them on half of the baking sheet. Add the coconut to the other half of the baking sheet. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the coconut is lightly toasted but not burnt. (Be sure to watch them carefully so that you don’t overcook them.) Remove the coconut from the baking sheet, and place the shallots back in the oven to bake for another 5 to 7 minutes.
In a jar or small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the dressing until fully combined.
Plate the fruit with the shallots, coconut, and mint leaves on a large plate or platter.
Pour over the dressing and gently toss to coat. Take a bite and be transported to a tropical island in Southeast Asia, or at least to our childhood kitchen in California. Serve immediately.
Tropical Fruit Salad with Sweet Umami Dressing
Ingredients
Sweet Umami Dressing
- 2 to 3 tsp lime zest, (about 1 lime)
- 2 tbsp lime juice, (about 1 lime)
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
Toasted Shallots & Coconut
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 1 cup coconut chips
- ½ tsp granulated sugar
- ⅛ to ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp neutral oil
Fruit Salad
- 2 pomelo, rind, membranes, and pith removed, fruit separated into segments
- 1 dragonfruit, rind and membranes/pith removed, fruit separated into segments
- 1 mango, peeled & seeded, fruit diced
- ½ cup fresh mint, ribboned
- Sweet umami dressing
- Toasted shallots & coconut
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Toss the shallots with the granulated sugar, salt, and neutral oil and place them on half of the baking sheet.3 tbsp granulated sugar, 2 shallots, ⅛ to ¼ tsp salt, 1 tsp neutral oil
- Add the coconut to the other half of the baking sheet.1 cup coconut chips
- Bake for 3-5 minutes, or until coconut is lightly toasted but not burnt.
- Remove coconut from the baking sheet, and place the shallots back in the oven to bake for another 5-7 minutes.
- In a jar or small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the dressing until fully combined.2 to 3 tsp lime zest, 2 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp fish sauce, ½ tsp granulated sugar
- Plate the fruit with the shallots, coconut, and mint leaves on a large plate or platter.2 pomelo, 1 dragonfruit, 1 mango, ½ cup fresh mint
- Pour over the dressing and gently toss to coat. Serve immediately.Sweet umami dressing, Toasted shallots & coconut
