Weekend Cookbook Challenge #14 - salad

This weekends 14th Weekend Cookbook Challenge has the theme salad and Tamy from running with tweezers will host it. Suddenly my focus felt on a kind of coleslaw I saw in an Asian cookbook. I often make coleslaw for barbequeing or to accompany Greek Gyros. So I'd like to prepare this one for the callenge.

Crispy & tangy cabbage salad / gawbi lethoke

(from the book green mangoes & lemon grass written by Wendy Hutton)

This salad is a Burmese dish which serves 4 to 6. The book the recipe is from is one of my very favourite ones. I've made almost 1/3 of all the dishes from it and all, really all of them were simply delicious and perfect.


Ingredients for the crisp fried prawn sprinkle / sambal balachaung:

40 mlvegetable oil
1 Tbspsesame oil
4shalotts, thinly sliced
3cloves garlic, thinly sliced
40 gdried prawns
20 mlrice vinegar
1 tspcrushed dried chiliflakes
1/3 tspsalt
1/9 tspdried shrimps paste toasted (toast it underneath a grill or in a saucepan wrapped in aluminium foil)


Preparation:

Heat both lots of oil in a wok. Add the slices shallots and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until they are golden brown and crisp. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel (I used tempura paper ), leaving the oil in the wok.

Add the sliced garlic and cook as for the shallotts, making sure it does not turn dark brown. Drain and set aside. (You can make a larger amount of the fried garlic and shallots, this will be a wonderfull crispy topping on soups and salads).
Do not soak the prawns but put them into a food processor and process to a powder.



Reheat the oil left in the wok and add the prawn powder. Stir-fry over low heat for 5 minutes, then add the vinegar, chili flakes, salt, and shrimp paste. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.






Remove from the wok and spread on a couple of layers of paper towel to absorb the oil.






When completely cold, put the prawn mixture in a bowl and toss with the fried shallots and garlic. Transfer to a tightly sealed jar.
You can use the leftover sprinkle as a condiment for salads, plain rice or noodles and you can sprinkle it over a sandwich.


Ingredients for the salad:

375 ground cabbage, finely shredded
1medium red or brown onion, halve lengthsways, thinly sliced across
1 tspsalt
3 Tbspof the crisp fried prawn sprinkle
2 Tbsplime juice
1 Tbspvegetable oil - preferably shallot- or garlic-infused oil

Preparation:

Put the cabbage in a bowl, cover with cold water and refrigerate 1 hour.


Combine the onion with salt, mixing well. Stand for 30 minutes, then rinse breifly and sqeeze out the moisture. Set onion aside.







Drain the soaked cabbage thoroughly, then put in a bowl. Add the onion, 2 tablespoons lime juice, oil, and chili.
Mix thoroughly by hand, squeezing the cabbage slightly to bruise it. Taste and add more salt and lime juice if desired.





Put the cabbage in a serving bowl and scatter with the prawn sprinkle. Serve immediately with rice and other dishes.








I served it with plain, steamed Thai Jasmine rice.

weekend cookbook challenge