Thai Herbs and Pork Salad

By vealam

Ingredients

• 10.6 oz (300 grams) of ground pork-shoulder
• 1 tsp of fish sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp of cornstarch
• 1 tbsp of chopped lemongrass
• 6 kaffir lime leaves, with the mid-stems removed
• 2 ~ 3 small shallots, finely sliced
• 2 small red chilis, finely sliced
• 1/4 cup of finely chopped scallion
• 1/4 cup of finely chopped cilantro
• 3 tbsp of finely chopped mint
• 2 tsp of grated ginger
• Zest of 1/2 lime
• 2 tbsp of lime juice
• 1 tbsp of fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp of ground white pepper

Details

Servings 2
Adapted from ladyandpups.com

Preparation

Step 1

This is a highly adaptable recipe with a few key-ingredients as a failsafe “foundation” to build on which are: Thinly sliced shallots, fish sauce and lime juice. Everything else is changeable to your liking. Ground pork can be shredded chicken, where as lemongrass/lime leaves/scallion/cilantro/mint, can be basil/chives/parsley/etc. Just remember the ratio between protein and herbs should be 1:1.

Mix ground pork-shoulder with 1 tsp of fish sauce and cornstarch until even. Heat up a non-stick skillet with 2 tsp of oil over medium-high heat, and sauté while breaking up the pork with a wooden spoon until it’s slightly browned. Let the pork cool completely over a fine sieve to eliminate excess oil. In a mortar, or spice-grinder or food-processor, grind the chopped lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves (use only the leaf-part without the mid-stem) until finely bashed up. Transfer to a large bowl, and add finely sliced shallots, chilis, scallion, cilantro, mint, grated ginger and lime zest (if you’re using small Asian limes with thin skin, 4~5 very thin slices added to the salad can bring refreshing zing). Add the cooled ground pork-shoulder, lime juice, fish sauce and ground white pepper. Toss the mixture until evenly combined. Re-season with more fish sauce if need be.

Serve with white steamed rice, or rice paper.