Thai Food Paradise

Authentic Thai Salad with Cucumber

Servings	Prep Time
2people	20mins

Servings	Prep Time
2people	20mins

Ingredients

2-4 dried chilisre-hydrate in lukewarm water for 5 mins
1 teaspoon palm sugarwhite or brown are ok substitutes
1 lime (halved)cut one half into thirds and keep the other half whole
1 cucumber
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1teaspoon nam pla rafermented fish sauce: an essential Thai Isaan-style salad ingredient
1small handful unsalted roasted peanuts
2 cherry tomatoes (quartered)any small tomato is fine
1 garlic clove

Instructions

Place the sugar, re-hydrated dried chilis, and garlic in a wooden Thai mortar and bash until oils are released. This should take 10 seconds.
Add lime wedges and bash to release juice for 2-3 seconds.
Peel skin from cucumber and cut into uneven matchsticks of 3-4 cm in length. Thickness can vary: there’s no need to be really precise. Add cucumber to mortar and grab a large spoon to prepare for the next step.
Add the fish sauce, fermented fish sauce, juice from the remaining lime half, followed by the cucumber, peanuts, and tomatoes. Combine ingredients well by gently bashing cucumber against the side of the mortar with one hand while tossing the dressing into the salad via the spoon with your other hand.
Empty the salad from the mortar onto a plate and eat it with grilled meat. For carbs, I recommend some Thai vermicelli rice noodles or some sticky rice. Plain rice is also fine.