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Susan Jung

I always pull out my Thai recipes at this time of year because they provide the perfect warm-weather dishes. The balanced flavours - sour, salty, spicy and sweet - feel light and refreshing on the palate and as the dishes need little or no cooking, they won't heat up the kitchen.
Somtam (green papaya salad; pictured)
This is one of the street foods I eat frequently when in Thailand. Most of the time, the vendor will offer you a sampling of the salad after she's pounded the ingredients together, to see if it suits your taste. This is how you should make this salad and the ones that follow - taste it and add more of the ingredients you like, until it seems balanced.
3 large garlic cloves, or more to taste
4 red bird's-eye chillies, or more to taste 40 grams roasted peanuts
30 grams dried shrimp
About 30 grams granulated sugar or palm sugar
A 1cm round ball tamarind paste
200 grams green papaya, peeled and julienned into long, thin strands
100 grams carrot, peeled and julienned into long, thin strands
4 snake beans, cut into 2cm pieces
About 40ml bottled fish sauce, or to taste
About 30ml fresh lime juice
12 small grape tomatoes, halved
Use a paring knife to slit the bird's-eye chillies down the length, then scrape out and discard the seeds and some of the membranes. Cut the chillies into 3mm-thick pieces.
Use a pestle to pound the garlic, chilli, peanuts, dried shrimp, sugar and tamarind paste until roughly crushed. Add the papaya, carrot and snake beans and pound to bruise the ingredients. Mix in the fish sauce and lime juice, then taste it and adjust the seasonings if needed. Mix in the tomato, pile the salad onto a plate and serve.
Pomelo salad with shrimp
Nam prik pao is a spicy, richly flavoured condiment that can be purchased in the Thai section of supermarkets.
45ml vegetable oil
2 large garlic cloves
2 large shallots
60ml coconut milk
15ml oil from a jar of nam prik pao
30ml fish sauce
30ml fresh lime juice
15 grams palm sugar or granulated sugar
1 sweet, ripe pomelo, peeled and membranes removed
10 shrimp, with bodies about 4cm long
30 grams roasted peanuts, roughly crushed
4 bird's-eye chillies, seeds removed and discarded, then finely chopped
Fresh coriander sprigs
Thinly slice the garlic and shallots, then put them in a small pan with the vegetable oil. Place the pan over a low flame and heat gently until sizzling. Cook the garlic and shallot until medium brown, taking care not to burn them. Remove the pan from the heat and use a slotted spoon to strain out the garlic and shallot from the oil, and drain them on paper towels. The flavoured oil can be saved and used in other dishes.
Peel the shrimp and cut them in half lengthwise. Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the shrimp and cook them until they turn pink and curl. Drain them, rinse with cold water, then drain again. Blot off the water with paper towels.
In a small pan, heat the coconut milk with the oil from the nam prik pao. Simmer for several minutes to reduce it slightly then remove from the heat and stir in the fish sauce, lime juice and sugar. Mix about half of this with the shrimp and set the rest aside.
Break the pomelo into chunks and place them in a bowl. Add the shrimp, some coriander springs, the chilli and half the peanuts, shallot and garlic. Toss gently to combine then pile onto a plate. Sprinkle with the remaining peanuts, shallot and garlic, then drizzle with the reserved coconut sauce.
Squid salad
Cleaning squid takes time but it's not difficult.
500 grams fresh squid, with bodies about 5cm long
1/2 a long, thin Japanese cucumber
30ml fish sauce, or more to taste
25ml lime juice, or more to taste
10 grams palm sugar or granulated sugar, or to taste
3 large shallots, peeled, halved, then thinly sliced
1-2 red bird's-eye chillies, or to taste, cut into thin rounds
2 fresh kaffir lime leaves, finely julienned
Fine sea salt
A handful of fresh mint leaves
Clean the squid. Pull the tentacles from the body. Reach into the cavity of the squid with your forefinger and scoop out and discard the innards. Peel off and discard the skin from the exterior of the squid then rinse the body inside and out. Use a sharp knife to cut off and discard the eyes and beak attached to the tentacles, then rinse the tentacles thoroughly. Pat the squid dry with paper towels then cut the bodies into 5mm-thick rings.
Cut the cucumber in half, lengthwise, then thinly slice it. Mix the fish sauce with the lime juice, sugar, shallot, chilli and kaffir lime leaves. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil, add the squid, blanch for about 20 seconds, then drain. Mix the warm squid with the dressing, mint leaves and cucumber, then serve.
Styling: Corner Kitchen Cooking School
 


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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}These well-balanced, sour and spicy dishes evoke Thailand on a hot summer's day

These well-balanced, sour and spicy dishes evoke Thailand on a hot summer's day