Thai pomelo and chicken salad
Pomelo salad, or Yan Som-o, was my favorite culinary discovery on my trip to Thailand. This salad is a fresh, intensely flavorful, healthy dish, that tastes like nothing you have ever eaten before. Eat it as a main course or as a side dish.
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 4 chicken thighs
- 1 half stalk lemon grass, peeled and bruised
- 1 T kosher salt
- 1 half onion, peeled and chopped in quarters
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 2 pomelos, pithed and membranes romoved – roughly 4 cups
- 3 ounces shallots
- 2 cups canola oil
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1–2 t Thai red curry paste, to taste
- 1/4 cup Thai fish sauce, to taste
- 1 t sugar, to taste
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice, to taste
- Salt, to taste
- 2 green onions, chopped in 1″ lengths
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro, including stems
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped mint leaves
- 1 – 6 Thai Bird’s eye chiles, to taste
- 3 T chopped roasted peanuts, divided
- 2 T toasted shredded coconut
- 12 butter lettuce leaves
- 4 limes, sliced Thai-style
Instructions
- Poach chicken by putting chicken in a pot and covering it with about 2″ of water. Add lemongrass, onion salt and chile flakes. Bring to a boil and reduce to medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Cover, remove from heat and let sit 15 minutes. Drain, let cool and shred. Set aside.
- See my post on how to remove pith and membranes from a pomelo. Once pith and membranes are removed, place pomelo in a bowl and gently separate the juice vesicles. Refrigerate until ready to toss the salad.
- You can make the crispy shallots a couple days in advance. Peel the shallots and slice in half from stem to root end. Finely slice the shallots across the grain. Put 2 cups of oil in a small pan and heat until 275 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer, the oil is ready when a piece of shallot added to the oil will immediately bubble. When oil is hot add all the shallots to the oil and turn down the heat to low. Cook for 10 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the shallots are golden brown and crispy. Remove the shallots from the pan and drain on paper towels. Shallots will keep in an airtight container for a couple days.
- A few minutes before you are ready to serve the salad make the dressing. In a small bowl whisk together the coconut milk with half of the following ingredients: the Thai red curry paste, Thai fish sauce, sugar and lime juice. Taste and adjust these seasonings and salt to your preference. Set aside.
- When you are ready to serve the salad, combine the chicken, pomelo, green onions, cilantro, mint, Thai Bird’s eye chiles, 2 T peanuts and coconut flakes. Toss with the dressing.
- Serve the salad on individual salad plates, nestled between three butter lettuce leaves and garnished crispy shallots and lime wedges. Or mound on a large serving platter, and garnish with lettuce, crispy shallots and limes.