Tag: salad
Nam Khao (Crispy Rice Salad)
Nam Khao (Crispy Rice Salad)
Nam khao is a Laotian salad with roots in Thai and Vietnamese cuisine. The Thai influence stem from the ingredients used to make the crispy rice balls, dressing, and toasted rice powder. The Vietnamese influence comes from the salad toppings such as the mint, basil, and cilantro. This salad has just about every flavor and texture you can imagine; all perfectly balanced. Nam khao is definitely an advanced recipe; with the crispy rice balls taking the brunt of the endless prep work to it’s completion. It will be all worth it in the end. So puff, puff, puff; don’t bother passing; puff a few more times; take a deep breath, and get ready to cook.
Servings: 2
Equipment
- sticky rice bamboo steamer
- cookie dropper scooper
Ingredients
Crispy Rice
- 3 cups glutenous rice
- 3 tbsp red curry paste
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- 4 lime leaves finely chopped
- 4 tsp fish sauce
- 4 tsp sugar
- 1 large egg beaten
- vegetable oil for frying
- spinach/arugula mix
Nuac Chom Dressing
- 1/3 cup warm water
- 2 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1/2 lime juiced
- 1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 red Thai chili finely chopped
Salad Toppings
- som moo (Laotian fermented sausage)
- mint
- basil
- cilantro
- toasted peanuts
- toasted rice powder
- green onions
Instructions
- Soak the rice for a minimum of 4 hours.
- Place the rice in a bamboo steamer basket in a pot of boiling water. Place a cover over the top.
- Steam the rice for 30 minutes, flipping half way through the cooking process.
- Mix in the rest of the crispy rice ingredients.
- Heat up 2” of cooking oil in a pot over medium high heat. Using a cookie dropper scoop, drop round balls of the rice into the oil, making sure to not overcrowd the pot. Fry the rice balls for 3-4 minutes.
- Drain the grease from the rice balls on paper towels.
- Mix together all of the dressing ingredients.
- Prep all of the other topping ingredients.
- Break up the crispy rice balls. Toss them with the som moo, mint, basil, cilantro, toasted peanuts, green onions, and the dressing.
- Place the spinach/arugula mix in the bottom of a bowl.
- Place the crispy rice salad on top of the spinach/arugula. Dust the top with toasted rice powder.
Fattoush Salad
Fattoush Salad
Fattoush is a Lebanese bread salad. The bread in question is pita bread that’s been brushed with a dressing of pomegranate molasses and sumac, then toasted in the oven. The toasted pita croutons are crumbled into a salad of romaine, cherry tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, green onions, fresh mint, and parsley. All of this is tossed in the pomegranate dressing. This salad can be eaten as a side and is even hearty enough as a main course.
Ingredients
- 1 head romaine lettuce washed and chopped
- 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
- 2 small Persian cucumbers thinly sliced
- 4 radishes thinly sliced
- 3 green onions chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh mint
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 large pita bread sliced in half
Dressing
- 3 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 tbsp sumac
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Mix together the dressing ingredients.
- Turn on your oven’s broiler. Brush the top side of the split pita bread with the dressing.
- Broil for 1-2 minutes.
- In a large bowl, toss the salad ingredients together with the lemon juice.
- Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss again.
- Crumble the toasted pita into the salad and toss.
Tomato Onion Curtido
Tomato Onion Curtido
Most meals throughout South American countries will have some type of salad on the side. Many of the times it will be a lime marinated salad like this tomato onion curtido. Besides being tasty, it helps cut through all of the heavy richness of Ecuadorian cuisine. Other vegetables you can substitute instead of tomatoes include carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers, radishes, etc.
Equipment
- mandolin slicer
Ingredients
- 1 large red onion thinly sliced on a mandolin
- 2 limes juiced
- 2 small tomatoes thinly sliced on a mandolin
- 1 tbsp cilantro chopped
- 1 tsp olive oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Rub the onions with salt. Place the onions in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes. Rinse the onions of salt and pat dry with paper towels.
- Mix all of the ingredients together. Refrigerate until ready for use.
