One of Thailand’s many hot and tangy salads, this version has coconut rice included, but you could serve it on its own if you prefer. Make sure the papaya is green, and not ripe, or the salad won’t taste at all right.
Ingredients
- 9 fl oz 1 cup (250 ml) coconut cream
- 7 oz (200 g) boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed
- 7 oz 1 cup (200 g) jasmine rice
- 12 fl oz 11⁄3 cups (350 ml) coconut milk
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 3 Asian shallots, chopped
- 3 small red chillies
- 1 teaspoon small dried shrimp
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 8 cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
- 6 oz (150 g) green papaya, grated
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 oz 1½ cups (30 g) mint leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 oz 2⁄3 cups (20 g) coriander (cilantro) leaves, roughly chopped
How to Make It
- Bring the coconut cream to the boil in a small saucepan. Add the chicken and simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover the pan for 20 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and shred it.
- Wash the rice under cold running water until the water runs clear. Put the rice and coconut milk in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave the lid on until ready to serve.
- Using a pestle and mortar or blender, pound or blend the garlic, shallots and chillies together. Add the shrimp and fish sauce and pound to break up the dried shrimp. Add the tomatoes and pound all the ingredients together to form a rough paste.
- In a bowl, combine the shredded chicken and chilli paste mixture with the grated papaya, lime juice, mint and coriander leaves. Serve with the hot coconut rice.
