This is a lovely refreshing vibrant salad perfect for summer. The strong flavors of sweet, sour, salty and spicy really come alive for this dish. The salad works well with a nice piece of grilled white fish, prawns, squid, or chicken.
Lemongrass Vinegar:
50g Lemongrass
2 Lime leaves
150g Rice wine vinegar
100g Sugar
250g Water
- Boil all the ingredients until the sugar is dissolved.
- Leave to go cold over ice.
- Strain the lemon grass and bottle.
For the Dressing:
100g Lemongrass vinegar
30g. Fish sauce
20g Lime juice
5g Red chilli
10g Garlic
10g Ginger
25g Shallot
- Finely grate the garlic and ginger discard any fibers but keep the juice and soft flesh.
- Very finely chop the shallot and red chilli.
- Mix all the ingredients and taste. Should have a good balance of salty sour spicy and sweet.
For the Salad:
Pink or white pomelo
100g Carrots
100g Cucumber
80g Red onion
10g Roasted sesame seeds
20g Cashew nuts
20g Peanuts
5g Fresh coriander’
5g Thai red chilli
4 Fresh lime wedges
Method
- Julienne the carrots, cucumber, and onion.
- In a dry pan roast the sesame seeds. I use black and white, but it does not matter. Toast until golden brown.
- Toast the peanuts and cashews in a dry pan. Alternatively, you can use ready roasted nuts from a packet. Chop them into chunky bits.
- Finely chop the coriander; including the the root. Finely chop the red chilli, adding more if you like more heat, or less or if you prefer food less spicy (hot). When using chilli, add what you like, to your taste.
- For the pomelo take off the outer rind, then remove the segments. Peel off the membrane surrounding each segment, to expose the lovely flesh of the fruit.
- In a large bowl, add all of the ingredients, plus the dressing, and leave the salad for approximately 10 minutes before serving. This makes sure the dressing hsd plenty of time to mix with the fruit and vegetables.
