I'm so excited to share this recipe that learned while taking the cooking class at the Banyan Tree Bangkok! This recipe looked so intimidating at first, the final plating looks like a dish on a 5-star restaurant plate but it's actually super easy to make.
I am also in love with the master sauce, which is a delicious sauce that can be used on all kinds of Asian salads. I featured salmon in this recipe, but you could easily substitute it tuna, grilled beef or chicken!
Yum Pla Salmon
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 6 oz salmon cut into bite sized pieces
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp bird eye chilis
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 2 tsp coriander finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes
- 1/4 cup flaked pomelos
- 1/3 cup mint leaves
- 1/3 cup basil lime leaves
- 1/3 cup coriander leaves
- 1/4 cup shallots finely chopped
- 2 pieces crispy saffron cracker (optional)
- 1 tsp large red chili
YUM DRESSING
- 4 tbsp fish sauce
- 6 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tbsp palm sugar
Instructions
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1. Heat a pan on medium heat. Add enough oil to coat the entire pan
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2. Once the oil is hot, place salmon in the pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for 4 minutes on each side. Then set aside to cool
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3. Make the dressing. Add the fish sauce, lime juice, and palm sugar into a bowl and mix. Then add the chopped chili, corainder, garlic, and dried chili flakes. Mix
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4. Add the salmon to the bowl then top with pomelo, mint leaves, basil lime leaves, and corainder leaves for garnish. Gently toss the ingredients, being careful not to bruise the leaves.
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5. Before serving, top with saffron cracker squares. Garnish with strips of sliced chili.
Ready? Here we go!
First prep all the ingredients
Tear the leaves off the Thai basil, Coriander, and Mint. You can substitute regular basil for the Thai basil if you can't find it. Here are some photos below of the herbs.
Thai Basil
Mint
Coriander
Break apart the pomelo into bite sized pieces.
Finely chop the garlic, bird's eye chili,
Chopped Coriander Root
Bird's Eye Chili
Cut the Salmon into squares
Heat a pan over medium heat. Add a small amount of vegetable oil, ensuring that the surface is fully coated. Once the oil is hot, place the salmon in the pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Allow the salmon to cook for 4 minutes on each side. Put the salmon on the plate and set aside.
Pour the yum dressing (fish sauce, lime juice, and palm sugar) into a medium-sized bowl. Add the chopped chili, garlic, coriander root, and dried chili flakes. Stir all the ingredients together.
Add the salmon into the mixing bowl, followed by pomelo flakes, mint leaves, basil lime leaves, and coriander leaves for garnishing. Gently toss all the ingredients together, so that the leaves are not bruised. Mix well to combine.
Now it's time for plating. This is totally optional but if you want to add some extra flair, you can make these super easy cucumber swirls.
In the end, they don't even show in my final plating because there were so many other goodies on the plate, but its a nice knife skill to have in your back pocket!
To start, finely slice your cucumbers, as finely as possible.
Start rolling it up tightly from one end
Once it's all the way rolled up, slice it carefully in half
Ta dah! You have two delicate rolls to decorate your plate any way that you like. So easy and so elegant!
Before serving, add crispy Saffron Cracker squares on top. Garnish with sliced chili strip.
I also got super fancy with it and put in some edible flowers to maximize the presentation!
1. Heat a pan over medium heat. Add a small amount of vegetable oil, ensuring that the surface is fully coated. Once the oil is hot, place the salmon in the pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Allow the salmon to cook for 4 minutes on each side. Put the salmon on the plate and set aside.
2. Pour the yum dressing (fish sauce, lime juice, and palm sugar) into a medium-sized bowl. Add the chopped chili, garlic, coriander root, and dried chili flakes. Stir all the ingredients together.
3. Add the salmon into the mixing bowl, followed by pomelo flakes, mint leaves, basil lime leaves, and coriander leaves for garnishing. Gently toss all the ingredients together, so that the leaves are not bruised. Mix well to combine.
4. Before serving, add crispy Saffron Cracker squares on top. Garnish with sliced chili strip.
