Yum Haew, Water Chestnut Salad

Serves
Serves 4-6 as part of a larger meal
Total Time
35 Minutes
Ingredients
1 tbsp of fish sauce
1⁄2 tsp of caster sugar
1 tbsp of lime juice
4 tbsp of vegetable oil
2 tbsp of finely chopped garlic
2 tbsp of finely chopped shallots
2 tbsp of minced pork
2 tbsp of minced prawns
200g of canned water chestnuts, drained, rinsed and finely sliced
2 tbsp of cooked crab meat
1 tbsp of pickled garlic, finely chopped
2 large red chillies, deseeded and finely sliced
A handful of coriander leaves
Method
Step 1

Mix the nam pla, sugar and lime juice together. Set aside.

Step 2

Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a wok until it’s almost smoking, and fry the garlic until it’s golden, stirring it in the oil all the time to stop it burning. Remove and set aside to drain on paper towels. Wipe out the wok, add another tablespoon of oil, and repeat the process with the shallots, cooking them until they’re brown and crispy. Set aside to drain.

Step 3

Wipe out the wok again. Heat another tablespoon of oil and stir-fry the pork until it’s cooked. Remove and set aside. Wipe out the wok, add the final tablespoon of oil, and repeat the process with the prawns.

Step 4

In a large bowl, mix together the cooked pork and prawns with the water chestnuts, crab and pickled garlic. Add half the fried shallots, fried garlic and the sliced chillies, followed by the nam pla dressing and gently mix together.

Step 5

Turn out on to a nice serving dish, sprinkle with the remainder of the fried shallots and garlic, some coriander leaves and the remaining sliced chillies.

Baan: Recipes and stories from my Thai homeby Kay Plunkett-Hogge, published by Pavilion Books.Image credit to Louise Hagger. 

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