Typical of much of Thai food, there is a rollercoaster of flavours here. And, again typical of Thai food, it’s all about the balance: the sweetness of the sugar, the saltiness of the fish sauce, and the tang or sourness of the lime and tamarind. But the best thing of all is that you don’t have to go too far out of your way to make this knockout, authentic Thai salad, before relaxing with a wheat beer.
Ingredients
- ½ barbecued chicken
- 3 large dried red chillies
- 1 large red onion very thinly sliced
- large handful mint leaves
- 1½ oz 1 cup (40 g) chopped coriander (cilantro)
- 2 tablespoons coconut cream
- steamed jasmine rice and lime wedges to serve
Dressing
- 1 tablespoon chilli jam
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon tamarind purée
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
How to Make It
- Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
- Remove the skin from the chicken. Finely slice the skin and place in a large bowl. Roughly shred the meat and add to the bowl.
- Put the dried chillies in a frying pan and cook over high heat, shaking the pan, until the chillies start to smoke and blister. Tip them onto a chopping board. When they are cool enough to handle, roughly chop and add to the chicken with the onion, mint and coriander. Use your hands to gently toss together.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and gently toss to coat. Tumble into a large serving bowl or onto a plate. Spoon the coconut cream over and serve with jasmine rice, with lime wedges on the side.
