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OMG! This is one of my favorite Thai salad, it tastes so refreshing, tangy, spicy, each morsel feels like a party in your mouth!
The Pomelo
The pomelo is the largest fruit in the citrus family and is considered as the ancestor of grapefruits. It’s available in most Asian stores. For this recipe, you should not replace pomelo by grapefruit as the latter is sourer and juicier, which would make the salad too wet/soggy, which is not desirable.
A young pomelo has firm and smooth skin. For this salad, it’s best to use aged pomelo, and you can tell by its skin just turning wrinkly and leathery. In this case, After getting a fresh pomelo from the market, I leave it on the kitchen counter to mature for a few days. When it reaches this stage, the flesh is firmer while retaining the same flavor, and the membranes are thinner and drier, hence it’s easier to detach them from the flesh. To prepare the pomelo, peel the skin and spongy mesocarp with a sharp knife, and use your fingers to remove the bitter membrane off each segment, and carefully separate out the segments without breaking the juice sacs.
The Vietnamese Pomelo Salad
There’s a Vietnamese Pomelo Salad (Goi Buoi), using both boiled prawns and pork belly, as well as julienne cucumber and carrot.
Here’s the recipe for the Vietnamese Pomelo Salad dressing:
- 4 tsp sugar
- 4 tsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp fresh lime juice
- 2 tsp garlic (minced)
- 2 tsp Thai chili (minced)
The Thai Pomelo Salad
The Thai dressing variation has a more complex taste with deeper flavors, and is so tantalizing.
This salad is inspired by a family recipe published by Leela Punyaratabandhu in her award-winning Bangkok Cookbook.
Thai Pomelo Salad – Yam Som O
Ingredients
- 1 Pomelo
- 1/2 lb medium size prawns, shelled, deveined
- 1/2 cup Desiccated coconut flakes, unsweetened
- 1 tbsp Oil
- 1 large Shallots (about 3 tablespoons), minced
- 1/4 cup Coconut milk
- 2 tbsp Garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup Roasted peanuts, roughly crushed
- 1 tbsp Fresh Lime Juice, to taste
- 1 tbsp Fish Sauce, to taste
- 1 tsp Sugar, to taste
- Thai chili, minced or Dried chili flakes
- 1 Bunch of herbs like Thai basil, mint and shiso (optional)
- 1 tbsp Crispy fried shallots to garnish (optional) – This can be store-bought or home made
- 1 tbsp Cilantro to garnish
Instructions
- Peel the pomelo, remove the membrane, loosely break out the segments, and put in a mixing bowl.
- Put the coconut flakes in a heat-proof dish in the toaster oven, and toast till golden brown, about 3 minutes (watch closely to avoid burning)
- Crushed the peanuts and set aside
- Boil a pot of water, poach the prawns till they turn pink and cooked (careful not to overcook as the prawns would shrink). Remove and drain.
- In a skillet, heat the oil, add the minced shallots, garlic and chili, stir fry for a few minutes till aromatic and confit-like. Add the coconut milk, heat through, without boiling. Pour in a medium bowl to cool.
- Add the fish sauce, lime juice to the medium bowl, add the toasted dry coconut. Mix well to make the dressing. Taste before adding the sugar as the dressing should be a little tangy. Only add the sugar if the pomelo is on the sour side.
- Just before serving, carefully toss the poached prawns, pomelo and dressing. Put on a serving platter, sprinkle the cilantro, crushed peanuts and crispy fried shallots (if using) on top and serve immediately.
This recipe is for 2 appetizer portions. You can double the ingredients quantity, but keep in mind that this salad should be consumed right away.
It’s now one of my all-time favorite Thai salad! I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.
Another of my favorite prawns recipe is Grilled Shrimp on sugar cane, please check it out here.
Are you tempted to try this recipe? Let me know how it has turned out!
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