'This is a deliciously fresh Thai inspired salad. Perfect for summer, crispy and crunchy. It;s really adaptable too, you miss out things you don't like and add in things you do. Everything tastes great with the dressing on it. There are actually three variations here. You can use Chinese leaf, rice or noodles to vary the texture and heaviness of the dish. Using rice or noodles will obviously fill you up more. You can use sweet mango, or a green under ripe one. If you can find them! Using the latter will give you more of a Thai taste experience. The same applies to papaya. Do take time cutting the veg up nicely it will make it much more appetising! Serves 4 INGREDIENTS FOR THE BASIC SALAD I large mango or 2 small ones thinly sliced 1 small papaya thinly sliced 1 small Chinese leaf, thinly sliced 1 red pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced Small bag of fresh beansprouts 2 spring onions, thinly sliced 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped Some chopped fresh coriander Some chopped fresh mint Some chopped fresh Thai basil In total you need around 60g of fresh herbs. Add more if you want a punchier salad Grated zest of 1 lemon and the juice, or a lime 1 tbsp Mirin (If you don’t have it, let a tbsp liquid honey down in a little water) 60g roasted salted peanuts, roughly chopped 50g flaked coconut (desiccated is too fine) 2 tbsp crispy onions or shallots METHOD Put all the fruit, vegetables and herbs in a large bowl and mix gently. Grate the zest of the lemon over the salad and squeeze over the juice. Drizzle over the Mirin, or diluted honey and mix everything again. Toast the flaked coconut in a dry pan until lightly browned. Scatter over the salad with the chopped peanuts. Serve and enjoy! If anybody has an allergy to peanuts, serve them on the side in a small bowl, or ramekin. You could do the same with the crispy onions or shallots. They contain gluten as they’re dredge with flour before frying. The 60g figure is just a guide. You can put out more if you want. We also serve peeled hard boiled eggs on the side to add a protein element to the meal. VARIATIONS Soak 250g of rice noodles in cold water until soft. Or follow the directions to soften them. Make sure they’re cold, then drain very well and add to the salad before mixing. Omit the Chinese leaf. RICE SALAD Put 100g of basmati, or jasmine rice in a pan with 1 tsp butter or oil and a couple of stems of Thai basil. Put 150g Camargue red rice in another pan and cook separately. If you cook both rice together, you won’t get separate coloured grains. You could use a wild rice mix, which already has various grains incorporated ready to cook together. Spread the rice on a tray to cool. Mix everything together once the rice has cooled. Omit the Chinese leaf.
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AuthorAlex Gonnord-Luty, chef, aspiring good blog writer, Hispanophile, lives currently in France & Spain. Archives
September 2020
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