This northern Thai salad uses pomelo to give it a sweet/tart flavour. Different varieties of pomelo are available in Thailand: some have pink flesh and others have yellow. Serve the salad with sticky rice and eat it as soon as it is ready.
Ingredients
- 1 large pomelo
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon chilli jam
- 11 oz (300 g) raw medium prawns (shrimp), peeled and deveined, tails intact
- 3 tablespoons shredded fresh coconut, lightly toasted until golden (if fresh is unavailable, use shredded desiccated coconut)
- 3 Asian shallots, thinly sliced
- 5 bird’s eye chillies, bruised
- 1 oz 1 cup (20 g) mint leaves
- ½ oz 1⁄3 cup (10 g) coriander (cilantro) leaves
- 1 tablespoon fried Asian shallots
How to Make It
- To peel a pomelo, slice a circular patch off the top of the fruit, about 2 cm (¾ in) deep. Next, score four deep lines from top to bottom, dividing the skin into four segments, Peel it away, one quarter at a time, Remove any remaining pith and separate the segments of the fruit. Peel the segments and remove any visible seeds, Crumble the segments into their component parts, without squashing them or releasing the juice.
- To make the dressing, combine the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and chili jam in a small bowl.
- Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the prawns and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and allow the prawns to cool.
- In a large bowl, gently combine the pomelo pieces, prawns, toasted coconut, shallots, chilies, mint and coriander. Just before serving, and the dressing. Toss gently to combine and coat the ingredients. Serve sprinkled with fried shallots.
