video://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZALjpDznDM
The other day, I had the please of making Thai Pork Salad and Thai Shrimp Salad for dinner, I took some pictures so you can learn how to make “authentic” thai salads too.
This is my favorite food to eat when I am drinking rice wine or soju and highly recommended if you are into spicy foods.
Here’s some Thai language lessons before we begin here:
Yam-Muh-Yuh means Thai Pork Salad while Yam-Koong means Thai Shrimp Salad, where “Yam” means “Thai Salad” while “Muh-Yuh” means “Pork Sausage” and “Koong” means “Shrimp”.
Before we begin, you will need the following ingredients:
(Asian Pork Sausage)
You will first need Asian Pork Sausage, which can be found at most Chinese markets. This is essential ingredient so try to get the authentic one.
(Raw Shrimp)
For fresh taste, I highly suggest you to get some raw wild-caught shrimps. The brand I got was “Master Catch”, these are actually shrimps from Thailand, I got lucky since I can now make the food even more authentic. I got these at my Lucky’s so you might be able to find them at your local supermarket too. (I think a lot of shrimps in America are imported from Thailand, great for Thai cooking.)
(Green Onions)
You will need some green onions, 3-4 green onions will do.
(Thai Chilis)
You will need these Thai Chilis to make the salad spicy.
(Limes)
Don’t forget Limes, you will need about 3-5 of these.
(Cilantros)
Cilantros are the main “vegetable ingredient to this Thai Pork Salad and Thai Shrimp Salad.
(Onions)
I got red onions because they make the salads taste a little sweeter but you can use regular white onions too.
Also, you will need some fish sauce. For authenticity, get the “Tiparos” brand from Thailand, you should be able to find these at your local Asian supermarket. (or Amazon has them too here.)
Once you have all the ingredients, chop them all up, you should get something like this:
Also for the shrimps, take the skin off and rinse them well. Then dump the raw shrimps in boiling water for about 3-5 minutes until they are cooked. Pour out all the hot water and set them aside as shown above.
Cooking!
Once you have all the ingredients cut up, simply mix the green onions, red onions, cilantro, chilis in with the cut-up pork pieces and the shrimps.
For Chilis, be careful how much you put in as it can get very spicy. You can set aside some of your cut-up chilis and add them later if the salad is not spicy enough.
Now, squeeze all your lime, about 4 half-pieces on each of the Pork and Shrimp salad bowls.
Pour in some of the fish sauce now, (about 4-5 squeezes) and then mix up the salads.
After mixing, taste it.
If it’s not spicy enough, add more chili.
If it’s not sour enough, add more lime.
If it’s not tasty enough, add more fish sauce.
Keep doing this until it tastes just right for your tongue.
(Thai Pork Salad – “Yam Muh Yuh”)
(Thai Shrimp Salad – “Yam Koong”)
This Thai Pork Salad and Thai Shrimp Salad should be good for about 2-4 people at most. You can always double/triple the ingredients for larger parties.
Also note that these Thai salads are only tasty and good about 5-6 after making it so if you are going to make it, make it right before you eat, fresher the better. (sorta like Sushi)
Well, I hope you enjoyed my cooking here, you can also check out how to make Thai Coconut Soup here.
