Crispy Rice Salad
- SERVES: 4
- PREP: 5 minutes
- TOTAL TIME: 15 minutes
Crispy rice = oh so nice.
Khao tod, also known as crispy rice salad, is one of my favorite dishes from Korat. My mom would make it as a treat for me and my siblings on the weekend, and we’d pile spoonfuls into cabbage leaves and eat them like tiny tacos. I still make it all the time for Chrissy. With every bite, you get crunchy bits of fried rice, tangy lime, refreshing herbs, the snap of raw ginger, a touch of heat from the chiles and the roasted peanuts.
Most of the work is rolling the seasoned rice into balls and frying them. I like my rice extra crunchy so I flatten the balls into discs to get more crispy edges. Traditionally it is made with naem, which is a fermented Thai sausage, but I use Spam (yes, I love Spam!) cooked until tender with garlic and lime juice to give it a savory-tangy taste. But if you don’t like Spam, you can also substitute cooked ground pork, or crumbled Thai Sour Sausage.
Reprinted from The Pepper Thai Cookbook Copyright © 2021 by Vilailuck Teigen. Photographs copyright © 2021 by Jenny Huang. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House.
1 cup diced Spam Less Sodium
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Vegetable oil, for shallow-frying
1 large egg
2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
Grated zest of 1 lime
¼ cup all-purpose flour
4 cups cooked jasmine rice (preferably cold)
8 small dried red chiles, such as chile de árbol (optional)
½ cup unsalted roasted peanuts
6 tablespoons fresh lime juice (2 to 3 limes)
6 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons Roasted Chile Powder or 4 thinly sliced fresh bird’s eye chiles, to taste
2 small to medium shallots, or ½ medium red onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced (about «⁄¡ cup)
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
8 scallions, finely chopped
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A do-it-all duo of two handmade wooden serving bowls (with handles!) that nest together for easy storage. Each one-of-a-kind piece is made from a single piece of wood and features unique variations. Fill them with your favorite salads, guacamole and dips, or taco fillings to pass around the table.Set Includes: One 12.6" x 9.75" Bowl One 14.4" x 11.75" Bowl
Through these 80 recipes, Pepper teaches you how to make all her hits––influenced by Thailand, California, and everywhere in between. No one loves this book more than Chrissy: “I’m SO proud of Yai and all of the hard work she put into making this book come to life. It has all of my favorite recipes that mom used to make for us growing up, like chicken satay and papaya salad, as well as modern twists on classic Thai food like pad thai Brussels sprouts and nam prik moo sloppy joes!
