Northern Thai-style Herb Salad Recipe | Tasting Table
Prep Time:
20 minutes
Cook Time:
10 minutes
Servings:
4 servings
Ingredients
  • ½ teaspoon vegetable oil
  • 1 ounce ground pork
  • 1 teaspoon Thai fish sauce
  • 2 tablespoons dried shrimp, rinsed and patted dry
  • 1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
  • 1½ tablespoons palm sugar simple syrup (1 part palm sugar to 1 part water, boiled until the sugar dissolves)
  • 1½ tablespoons Key lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon coconut milk
  • 2 Thai chiles, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup lightly packed julienned carrots, cut into 3-inch-long strips
  • ¼ cup lightly packed thinly sliced yellow onion
  • ¾ cup lightly packed julienned white turmeric, cut into 3-inch-long strips (see note above)
  • 1 tablespoon thinly sliced lemon grass, tender parts only
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted roasted peanuts
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted roasted whole cashews
  • ½ teaspoon thinly sliced fresh or frozen Kaffir lime leaves
  • 1 teaspoon thinly sliced fresh betel leaf
  • 1 teaspoon thinly sliced sawtooth herb or cilantro
  • 2 teaspoons thinly sliced Thai basil
  • 1 tablespoon Hom Daeng Jiao (fried shallots)
  • ½ teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Directions
  1. Make the pork and dried shrimp: Heat the vegetable oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up the meat, about 2 minutes. Add the fish sauce and cook until the pork is cooked through, another 2 minutes.
  2. In a dry skillet over medium heat, add the dried shrimp and cook, stirring regularly until the shrimp becomes completely dry and crispy, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and let cool. Once cool, pound the shrimp in a mortar and pestle or process in a food processor until broken down to a powder. Note: The powdered shrimp can be made up to 3 weeks in advance and stored at room temperature.
  3. Make the salad: Combine the fish sauce, palm sugar simple syrup, Key lime juice, coconut milk, chiles and the cooked pork in a medium skillet over medium heat and cook until the dressing is just warm, about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat.
  4. Add the carrots, onions, white turmeric, lemongrass, peanuts and 1 teaspoon of the shrimp powder to the skillet and gently toss until all the vegetables are coated. Transfer the salad to a platter and top with cashews, Kaffir lime leaves, betel leaf, sawtooth herb, Thai basil, fried shallots and toasted sesame seeds. Serve immediately.