In my early twenties I taught English in Thailand, and I ate absolutely heaps of this salad – these were flavours I’d never encountered before, and I couldn’t get enough of them. I can’t say that this is a particularly authentic recipe because the likelihood of sourcing green papaya or dried shrimp where I live is virtually nada, but still this salad is something I love. It livens up some sticky rice and grilled chicken no end. Feel free to scale up the heat with acres more chilli – chopped fresh chilli pounded into the garlic & sugar in a pestle & mortar would be a better way to start the dressing, but for a mid week dinner using flakes is heaps easier. This’ll feed 2 or so.
Ingredients
Salad:
A big handful of green beans
A small wedge of cabbage
6 cherry tomatoes
1 large carrot
2 tbsp peanuts
Dressing:
2 tbsp palm sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp lime juice
A big pinch of chilli flakes
2 small garlic cloves
Method
- Finely shred the cabbage & either grate the carrot or use a julienne peeler to produce fine strips.
- Blanche the green beans in boiling water (you want to retain a little bit of bite) and refresh them under cold water.
- Chop the tomatoes into quarters, then mix all the veg together in your serving bowl.
- Mince the garlic cloves, and stir together all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl until well combined.
- Just as you’re about to serve the salad, pour over the dressing and toss well.
- Chop the peanuts roughly and scatter on top.
- Invariably the dressing sinks to the bottom of the bowl, but just spoon it over the salad and everything else that you’re eating, you won’t regret it.
From My Kitchen 