Thai Pomelo Salad - ( YAM SOM O )

After having that enjoyable dinner with my family at Spices restaurant at the Manila Peninsula the other night, I decided to try my version of their Pomelo Salad .... a simple and easy dish that you can do in less than 30 minutes. Let me share the ingredients I used and try it out ...

Tip: I suggest that you use the Nenita's or Dizon pomelos which are always very plump and juicy.
Tip # 2: you can buy the shredded coconut from the grocery.

INGREDIENTS :


1 pomelo ( suha )
12-16 medium shrimp, peeled
1 small to medium cucumber, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots ( red onions )
1/4 cup  chopped fresh basil ( you can also use mint leaves )
1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves ( or you can use Replace the coriander with fresh parsley, tarragon, dill )
1/4 cup chopped unsalted cashews or peanuts
2 Tbsp. shredded coconut
1 red chili, minced
handful of salad greens

DRESSING:


1/3 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice
3 Tbsp. fish sauce ( patis )
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 to 2.5 Tbsp. brown sugar, to taste
1-2 tsp. Thai chili sauce, OR 1/3 to 1/2 tsp. chili flakes  ( you can buy this in the grocery )

PREPARATION:

** Boil a pot of water. Add shrimp and boil just a few minutes, until shrimp turns pink and plump and firm to the touch. Drain and set aside to cool.

** Place shredded coconut in a dry frying pan over medium-high heat and stir until coconut turns light golden brown and fragrant. Remove coconut and place into a small bowl to cool and set aside.

** Prepare your pomelo removing as much of the white peel as possible from the fruit . Break the fruit into bite-size pieces. You may not want to use all of the pomelo ( 3 to 4 cups is a good amount ). The rest can be saved for eating fresh. Set prepared pomelo in a salad bowl.

** Add other salad ingredients to the bowl: cucumber, red pepper, shallots, basil/mint, coriander, and chili. Combine all dressing ingredients together in a cup, stirring well to dissolve the sugar.

** To put salad together:

Add shrimp to the salad bowl, then pour over the dressing. Toss well to combine. Add most of the toasted coconut and nuts, reserving a little for garnishing, then toss again. Taste-test the salad for a balance of sweet/sour/spicy/salty. Adjust to your liking, adding more sugar can be added if too sour, or more lime juice if too sweet.  For more flavor, add a little more fish sauce. Your salad is now ready to serve.

It is best to prepare individual plates with a bed of greens and then top with generous portions of the pomelo salad. Top with reserved coconut and nuts.

ENJOY your salad !!!!

Mother's Day at the Spices

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY !!

It is that time of the year where my family and I would bond together and celebrate a special occasion. Instead of having dinner in Greenbelt, we decided to try out Spices at The Peninsula Manila.

Spices is a fusion restaurant located on the ground level of The Peninsula Manila. This restaurant specializes in the best of Asian cuisine  of six countries - Indian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Thai and Filipino. With the food prices ranging from 500 pesos to a high of 1,200 pesos per dish, you can experience Asian cuisine at its finest when dining at Spices. The food we had was excellent.

Asian objects d'art and tempera paintings by Filipino expressionist Ang Kiukok adorn the walls of Spices. Dark lacquered chairs with purple cushions, purple booths with dark brown table tops and a small marble fountain complement the restaurants decor.

The decor of the place is Old World Charm and very well laid out. They used a lot of wood which gave the place a very homey feeling. We were not able to get a reservation at the original dining area of Spices since the place was already booked. We sat in the extension area of Spices. This was the old Tipanan Bar of long ago.