Shrimp and Cashew Nut Salad, Thai Style

We had just returned from a family holiday in Bangkok about a fortnight ago.  Ever since then, I've been on a Thai food cooking frenzy :P  The smell of fish sauce, lime, lemon grass and other related aromatics have been wafting from the kitchen for the past many days.  The neighbours must be wondering if a Thai family has moved in!





Thailand is a great holiday destination for us Malaysians because of our similar currency ratio. Things are also generally cheaper, the transportation system excellent (pssst...cabs are cheap and cabbies generally honest, bless them!), accomodation choices aplenty and very reasonable.   Needless to say, the food is fantabulous. Thai food does not rank as one of the world's most popular cuisine for no reason.

The other great part about Thailand is the shopping! Can you believe hubby got some Dockers pants for 8bucks (that is Malaysian ringgit mind you) a piece - a steal. Granted, they were factory over-runs, but still, they were brand new and has no defects.   Now, consider that the shops here are selling them for 10 times the price. 

As for me, my loot came to two suitcases full (YESSSS!), including some lovely household stuffs that I will be using as my food props.   You will see some of them in the photos here :) Good thing hubby helped me hand-carry them back because alot of these are ceramic / glass ware.

Ok, back to today's post. This is a lovely salad that is commonly paired with either green mango or green papaya. However, I have decided to omit them and revert back to the original version that I first tasted in Adelaide, Australia during my Uni days. One of my Uni mates worked part-time in a Thai restaurant, and he would always take-away a plate of this to share with us.   

Shrimp and Cashew Nut Salad, Thai Style
Serves 4

• 400g medium size shrimps, shelled and deveined
• 3 tbspn roasted cashew nuts, lightly salted
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1 medium size red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 pip garlic, finely chopped
• 1.5 tsp fish sauce
• 4 tsp sugar
• Juice of two medium size green limes (not calamansi)

1. Add a dash of fish sauce to the prawns, heat a tspn of oil in a pan, toss in the shrimps and lightly pan fry until just cooked. Let cool.

 

 

2. Mix the dressing and pour into a small glass cup.

3. Assemble the salad ingredients in a bowl, toss to mix. Serve with the dressing on the side.

Handmade sand figurines.  The instant I saw these guys,
I knew I had to bring em home :) 
My son Jarrett said "Wa, mummy, these are so nice!
Papa elephant, Mummy elephant, Jarrett elephant!:

  

How about these two? Too cute aren't they :)

Note : Best to roast the cashew nuts yourself or spend a bit to get good quality ones.  I bought some raw nuts and roast them over low heat in a non stick pan with half a tsp of oil and a sprinkling of salt.  It is much more flavourful and you get whole nuts instead of broken ones that are usually found in those prepacked, travel packs.