Recipe > Pineapple, Mint and Coriander Salad
Pineapple, Mint and Coriander Salad
I first sampled something similar to this dish while eating off a street stall in Vientianne, Laos. The day had been hot and dusty as hell and this cooling salad had been a welcome relief. I've since tweaked the ingredients in this recipe slightly and added a bit more of a Malay twist to the salad.

The crushed peanut and dried shrimp add depth of flavour and texture to the salad. However if some of you are a little squeamish I'll pretend not to notice if you forgo the dried shrimp.

Serves 4

Recipe Ingredients
1 medium pineapple
1/2 cucumber
1 red onion
1 red chilli
85g / 3oz peanuts
1/4 bunch mixed coriander and mint leaves
Dried shrimp to garnish

For the sauce:
85ml / 3fl oz light soy sauce
2 Tblsp light brown sugar
1 thumb / 2-3 cm fresh ginger
1Tblsp nam plaa or fish sauce

Mise-en-Place:
Measure and weigh all the ingredients

Cooking Method:
Remove the top and tail from the pineapple (reserve the top for garnish)
Cut away the tough, bark-like skin from the pineapple, cut the flesh into chunks (be sure to remove the tough central core of the pineapple)
Split the cucumber in half, slice each half into thick pieces
Slice the red onion
Chop the red chilli (remove the seeds if you wish to decrease the heat)
Crush the peanuts either in a mortar and pestle or wrap them in a tea towel and bash the tea towel with a rolling pin
Roughly chop the herbs
Mix all the ingredients together

Make the sauce:
Chop the ginger
Whisk all the sauce ingredients together, ensure that the sugar dissolves.

Toss the sauce through the salad
Serve

Adjust: The salad should be light and refreshing. All the elements of flavour should combine, no one flavour should arise above the rest.
Too bland: Add more chilli, fresh herbs and light soy sauce
Too bitter or sour: Add more sugar or pineapple

Presentation:
Either present the salad in a bowl
Or
In a wide plate, arrange the salad into a pile, trying to get as much height as possible
Garnish with crushed peanuts and dried shrimp
If you wish you can also garnish the plate with the pineapple top

Chef Insight: Pineapples are native to south america, they were quickly adapted into European cuisine during the 16th Century, its initial popularity was largely due to its intense aromatics and flavouring which at the time was considered a rare treat. Because the pineapple contains not just a high level of sugar but also a high level of citrus acid it has often been prized in the east for its adaptability to sweet and sour cuisine.