I shared another recipe from the new book Step by Step with Marley Spoon by Olivia Andrews a couple of weeks ago. In the intro to that recipe, I talked about how this cookbook brings all the easy-breezy cooking from the home delivery company without all the awful plastic packaging. The same is true of this delicious Thai-style pork salad.
I’m a huge fan of salads for lunch. I almost-always have my standard tuna salad every day (have done for years and years), but mixing it up with this pork salad was excellent. The flavours in this dish are outta-this-world. The dressing is so good that I made extra and have been pouring it over everything from potatoes to other salads to my eggs. I highly recommend you do the same!
Check out my go-to salad here: My Asian-style every day everyday tuna salad
If you are so inclined, you could get one of these pre-cooked rice sachets to cut the cooking time on this recipe in half. It would defeat the ‘less plastic packaging’ ideal, but you do what you’ve gotta do. For me, cooking up a pot of brown rice is no biggie. The Marley Spoon recipe suggests using the ‘boiling water and drain’ method, but Uncle Roger would have a heart attack.
Absorption method for brown rice
The absorption method works just well for brown rice as for white: clean your rice, cover with a ratio of 2 cups water to one cup rice, cover and bring to boil over medium heat on stove top, reduce heat to simmer, simmer for about 20-25 minutes, take off heat and leave covered for about 10 minutes before fluffing and serving. Done.
You could also swap the pork for beef mince, chicken mince or tofu mince and it would still be a wonderful salad. Just, obviously, not a pork salad. Rather a beef salad. Or a chicken salad. Or a… you get the idea.
Enjoy this yummy salad for lunch one day. Let me know what you think!
Thai-style pork salad
Up your salad game with this delicious take on Thailand’s famous larb. In place of mince it features stir-fried pork strips so it’s chunkier, and rice that’s traditionally served on the side acts as a bed to soak up the mouthwatering dressing. Finished off with roasted peanuts and fresh herbs, it’s a winner any night of the week.
Serves 4
Takes 30 mins
Equipment medium/large saucepan, fine grater, medium/large frying pan
250 g brown rice
40 g roasted peanuts
1 bird’s eye chilli
1 large lime
1 tbs sesame oil
2 tbs fish sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 Lebanese (long) cucumbers
3 tomatoes
20 g coriander
20 g mint
1 tbs vegetable oil
500 g free-range pork stir-fry strips
salt and pepper
1. Chop peanuts: Bring 1 litre (4 cups)/1.5 litres (6 cups) water to the boil in a saucepan for the rice. Coarsely chop the peanuts.
2. Cook rice: Cook the rice in the pan of boiling water for 25 mins or until the rice is tender. Drain.
3. Make dressing: Meanwhile, thinly slice the chilli, removing the seeds if less heat is desired. (The dressing is delicious even without the chilli.) Finely grate the lime zest, then juice. Put the chilli, lime zest, lime juice, sesame oil, fish sauce and sugar in a small bowl, and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
4. Make salad: Cut the cucumber into 2 cm chunks. Coarsely chop the tomatoes. Finely chop the coriander, including the stems. Finely chop the mint leaves, discarding the stems. Put the cucumber, tomato, coriander and mint in a bowl.
5. Stir-fry pork: Heat the oil in a frying pan over high heat. Stir-fry the pork for 2 mins or until browned and cooked through. (The pork cooks quickly so stick to these cooking times to ensure a tender result.) Season with salt and pepper.
6. Get ready to serve: Add half the dressing to the salad and toss to combine. Divide the rice, salad and pork among bowls. Drizzle over the remaining dressing and scatter over the peanuts to serve.
Images and text from Step by Step with Marley Spoon by Olivia Andrews, photography by Phu Tang. Murdoch Books RRP $39.99
