Describing this salad in words transforms flavors and texture into language; thus, if you’re not familiar with salad flavor re-layering terms, you can quickly review them here, as this is the foundation for the technique described here.
A peanut bar might be considered an unlikely ingredient for an old-fashioned Siamese-style salad. Yet, peanut bars were familiar to the Siamese as early as the Ayutthaya period and were part of a broader set of Teochew Chinese sweets called, in Thai, “khanohm janap (ขนมจันอับ)”.
Khanohm janap, or dteh liaao (เต่เหลียว) in Chinese, are served as dainty nibbles with tea but also are an indispensable set of sweets and snacks that are offered at auspicious occasions, as well as ancestor worship ceremonies, marriages, funerals, and holidays – especially the Chinese New Year.
khanohm janap (ขนมจันอับ) or dteh liaao (เต่เหลียว)
A typical khanohm janap is composed of five types of sweets, namely peanut bars (ถั่วตัด เต้าปัง), sesame bars (อิ้วมั่วปัง), puffed rice (บีปัง), white and pink sugar-coated nuts (ซกซา) and candied winter melon (ตังกวยแฉะ).
Documents describing the Royal Rattanakosin 100th Anniversary in 1882, held during the reign of King Rama V, list 58 different Chinese snacks that were part of the Royal khanohm janap set.
Peanut bars, nowadays, are easy to obtain, though getting them was not so easy during the Ayutthaya period. In that era, there was only a small group of Chinese, located near Wat Phanan Choeng temple (วัดพนัญเชิงวรวิหาร), who prepared khanohm janap along with other auspicious sweets such as Chinese puff pastry buns (ขนมเปี๊ยะ), mooncakes (ขนมจัน) and snow skin mooncakes (ขนมโก๋).
This salad showcases its aristocratic origins by using multiple proteins and restrained seasoning. It explores different forms of expression at the intersection of flavor and texture, resulting in a clever and playful animation that leads your senses as self- evolving bites.
The salad’s umami contributing proteins – the pork and the shrimp – are reinforced by fat (pork fat, crispy fried garlic, and shallots) and smoke elements (crispy fried garlic, crispy fried shallots, and the caramel of the peanut bar). So, with a solid foundation in place, we can continue to examine the sweetness and sourness polygons.
Sweetness is introduced from the shrimp, the crispy fried garlic, the shallots, and the dressing, and obviously from the peanut bar, as well as from the faint sweetness of the tamarind paste, and the fruitiness from yellow chilies. Caramelization can be seen as a sub triangle of both the sweetness and smokiness that connect the peanut bar with the crispy fried garlic and shallots.
Sourness is based on a tamarind paste for a solid body with an encapsulated bright and sharp explosive sourness that is released as we bite on the sour fruit. This performance is mirrored by the caramelized nutty sweetness of the peanut bar, gradually revealed as we chew each bite.
Texturally, each bite consists of soft shrimp meat, slightly chewy pork meat, firm pork fat that is springy in texture, and the crunch of peanut bars.
The seasoning is based on the 1:1:1 ratio. However, due to the use of sweet peanut bars and sour fruits, both the sour element and the sweet elements are halved in the dressing.
c1933 Sour Bilimbi Fruit and Crispy Candied Peanut Salad with Pork, Shrimp and Pork Fat (ยำตะลิงปลิง ; yam dtaling bpling)
This salad showcases its aristocratic origins by using multiple proteins and restrained seasoning. It explores different forms of expression at the intersection of flavor and texture, resulting in a clever and playful animation that leads your senses as self- evolving bites.
For the salad
2tablespoonfresh yellow chili (phrik leuang) (พริกเหลือง)sliced into thin juliennes.
Seasoning:
1partfish sauce (น้ำปลา)
1/2partpalm sugar (น้ำตาลมะพร้าว)
1/2parttamarind paste (น้ำมะขามเปียก)
Instructions
Prepare the salad ingredients.
Peel, devein, and cook the shrimp, then cut them into small equal-sized pieces. Set aside.
Slice the pork belly into a 1.5cm (0.5”) wide piece, cook it whole, then cut the meat into thin, elongated slices. Set aside.
Prepare the pork fat and cut into small cubes.
Deseed the yellow chilies and remove the inner white membrane. Cut the chilies into thin juliennes. Set aside.
Crush the peanut bar into small chunks just a bit smaller than the size of the shrimp.
Slice the sour bilimbi fruit lengthwise into thin wedges.
Prepare the crispy fried shallots.
Prepare the crispy fried garlic.
Set aside the garnish, the crispy fried garlic, the shallots, and some julienned yellow chilies. Arrange all the ingredients side-by-side in a mixing bowl, so you can visually gauge their ratios.
Pre-mix the seasoning.
Before serving, toss together all the ingredients, then add the salad dressing and toss again.
Place the salad on a serving plate in a tall cone-like shape. Drizzle more seasoning and garnish.
Keyword Thai salad (ยำ และ พล่า)
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If you follow Thai movies and TV dramas, you probably remember Sohm Choon, the adorable boy ghost character from the period romance movie Reun Mayura (1997), which was a love story between a beautiful woman and a handsome man living in different periods of time.
This salad recipe is adapted from the book “Maae Khruaa Huaa Bpaa” (แม่ครัวหัวป่าก์), published in 1971 as a memorial for Jao Jaawm Phit (เจ้าจอมพิศว์). Jao Jaawm Phit was the daughter of Thanpuying (Lady) Plean Passakornrawong, who was a pioneer of noble Thai cuisine.
Chef Thapakorn Lertviriyavit (Gorn) brings us a rare perfumed and colorful starter [salad] dish that was rediscovered in a cookbook written by a former governor of Nakhon Ratchasima (พระยานครราชเสนี – สหัด สิงหเสนี), which contained a recipe that called for rose petals, called ‘Yum Gularb’ or ‘Rose Petal Salad’. But I’d prefer to rename it, ‘Yum Gleep Kuppatchka’. You will soon understand why….
Thai Chili Jam – This is a chili jam similar to what is commonly sold under the name of roasted chili paste (naam phrik phao; น้ำพริกเผา). It is widely used as a condiment in salad dressings, soups, and seasoning for stir-fried dishes. I like to have control over my pantry ingredients, so I always use homemade naam phrik phao. Furthermore, since it is a basic ingredient used in so many dishes, anything less than the best will drastically impair the quality of your dishes.
This old-fashioned Siamese pork skin salad is adapted from an 1889 rhino skin salad recipe. It features thin glossy slices of cooked pork skin, simmered in rich coconut cream, and mixed with dried shrimp, roasted coconut, sour fruits; it is seasoned with chili jam-based dressing.
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Practical and kitchen-tested recipes with a mix of theory, history, psychology, and Siamese culture tidbits.
Access to Thaifoodmaster’s constantly growing library of prime professional classes, articles, recipes and videos on Siamese culinary topics, available nowhere else in English.
Gain access to NEW MONTHLY masterclasses as they become available.
1-1 support from Hanuman to help you achieve your professional Thai culinary goals
The opportunity to join a monthly live two-hour videoconference where I can answer your questions.
one year access for the price of 3 days in-person training.
You will get everything you need to:
When you design or build a new menu for an event or restaurant or even prepare for dinner with friends.
Finally !
Master your Thai cooking skills and expand your repertoire.