Salat Khaek Southern Thai Salad

Stephen Ceideburg 2 Dried chillies, seeds

-removed and soaked in water 1/4 ts Salt

1/4 c Thinly sliced shallot

1 ts Curry powder

2 Hard-boiled eggs

1/2 c Ground roasted peanuts

2 c Coconut milk

3 tb Fish sauce

1/3 c Sugar

1/4 c Tamarind juice

Ingredients for dressing: Preparation: Pound the chillies, salt, shallots, and curry powder well in a mortar and then mix in the peanuts. Remove the yolks from the two eggs and mix the yolks into the chilli paste. Heat 1 cup of the coconut milk. When some oil has surfaced, add the chilli paste, stir to disperse, and cook until fragrant; then, add the remaining coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar and tamarind juice. Ingredients for salad: 1 potato 3 hard-boiled eggs cuts into slices 1 cake firm white bean curd 1

head romaine lettuce 1 cup scalded bean sprouts 5 cucumbers [Or one large Western one. S.C.] 1 onion 2 tomatoes 2 cups cooking oil Preparation: Cut the potato into very thin slices, soak in water, drain well, and then fry in the hot oil until crisp and golden brown. Cut the bean curd into thin slices and fry until crisp. Peel the cucumbers and onion and cut them and the tomatoes into thin slices Arrange the lettuce on a platter, add the cucumbers, bean sprouts, onion, tomatoes, eggs, bean curd, and potato, spoon on the salad dressing and serve right away. Serves two. From "The Elegant Taste of Thailand, Cha Am Cuisine" by Sisamon Kongpan and Pinyo Srisawat. SLG Books, Berkeley and Hong Kong, 1989. ISBN 0-943389-05-4.