Thai Mango Salad Everyone Will Adore

And how time flies! I relly wanted to update this space here regularly but I guess some things are just not meant to be..

Nevertheless I am must share the mango salad dish we learned from my cousin previously. I love watching her did this - simply and so effortlessly (and if only I could imitate even half of her confidence..)

You'll need:

A
1 medium green mango ('apple' mango works best for the recipe).
... julienne the mango or you can grate it (grating makes
the mango soft and watery though..) You need not peel the mango.
Nur my cousin uses a peeler-like grater that's simply superb
for the job; but uh, she got that in Thailand...
1 tablespoon blended/pounded dried shrimp
2 tablespoons fried & corasely chopped ground nut
2 tablespoon fried onion (bawang goreng)
1 tablespoon fried coconut (fried to golden brown - kelapa goreng)
1 small onion (thinly sliced)
chillies, to taste (cili api works best - thinly sliced)
1 tablespoon spring onion (thinly sliced)
Small amount carrot (grated) - for color in the salad

B
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice (do not use kasturi, it doesnt have that zing you want)
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Mix ingredients A thoroughly.
2. Mix B together and stir till sugar is melted.
3. Add B to A and mix well.
4. Taste & serve.

Everytime we go for our lessons we begged Nur to make us this salad. It's simply irresistable. Unfortunately I didnt get a photo the other day; this is courtesy of the internet.

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Caesar Salad And Anchovies

I love the taste of Caesar salad with chicken. The fresh lettuce, grilled chicken strips and the cheesy taste.

I looked around for its recipe and found a few on Martha Stewart's website. I took one and tried it and found that it is quite easy to make. It tastes nice and I've made it a few times since; this is how:

Croutons:
6 slices bread; cut into 3/4inch cubes
3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic (I grate my garlic. I think that's easier..)
1 tablespoon fresh flat-leaf parsley, minced (you can omit this if you dont have it)
Salt to taste

2 cloves garlic (finely grated)
2 large egg yolks (you can subsitute with 1 tablespoon mayonnaise if you'd prefer)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
4 - 5 anchovies (ie 1 small flat can) - mash to a paste
2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Salt & pepper to taste
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 heads romaine lettuce, washed and dried thoroughly and torn into 2inch pieces
Grated Pamesan cheese (to taste)

Croutons : Toss bread cubes with all other ingredients in a bowl. Toast in 350 degrees oven till lightly brown.

Stir egg yolks, Dijon mustard, anchovies and garlic together in a bowl. Add lemon juice, salt & pepper. Slowly stir in olive oil till dressing is creamy.

Add lettuce to the bowl and toss thoroughly. Stir in grated parmesan cheese. Sprinkle croutons on top of salad. Serve topped with Parmesan shavings.

That's it. I like my salad with chicken - so what I do is I grill / bake a couple of chicken breasts, slice them thinly and add to the salad with the lettuce.

While making the salad I discovered what anchovies tastes like - it tastes quite strong but not that bad actually.

Fresh anchovies are gutted (the Italians pulled the head off together with the stomach etc etc - I watched that on David Rocco's Dolce Vita) - and then preserved in layers of sea salt for three months. They are then packed with olive oil.

Although they are actually our bilis, they dont taste anything like bilis that we know and the price - mama mia, I cant believe bilis could be that expensive. I'm thinking of omitting the anchovies in my salad the next time..

Nevertheless, you must try this.

(ps - the gambar is from Martha Stewart although how I wish it were from my own camera err..handphone)

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