Crispy salmon salad with sour fruits, tempura watercress & chilli & lime nahm yum dressing

This fresh, zingy salad is a perfect dish to compliment the sun . By coating the watercress in a soy tempura batter and shallow frying in rapeseed oil it adds a crispy texture to this great dish. The salad demonstrates a delicious balance of flavour and texture – a must try for any food lover.

I have topped my salad with julienne makrut lime leaves and crispy shallots to add fragrance and texture, however if you do not have easy access to these the salad is still delicious without these garnishes.

The strong flavour of the dressing also compliments rice if you are looking to bulk the meal out a little. Try accompanied with some steamed Jasmine rice for more of a fill.

Serves 2

Ingredients

For salad

A handful of watercress
25g picked mint leaves.

10g krachi, wild ginger, peeled & thinkly sliced (not essential but tasty)

10g betal leaves, washed and torn (not essential but tasty)
100g pomelo, peeled and pith removed
25g picked coriander.
5 Thai shallots, peeled and thinly sliced.
1 green mango, stone out, peeled, chopped into bite-sized bits.
1 mandarin (clementine or orange will do), peeled and split into segments.
2 fillets (roughly 400g) Salmon, Skinned but keep skin for garnish,
chopped into 2cm x 2cm chunks.
2 tbsp fish sauce (to marinate the salmon skin).
1 litre rapeseed oil (for shallow frying).

For the tempura batter

100g plain flour, sifted.
30g tapioca flour (rice flour or corn flour will do).
240ml icy cold water.
1 tablespoon soy sauce.

For the dressing

5 large red chillies, de-seeded & thinly sliced.
2 limes, juiced.
2 mandarins, juiced.
1/2 tbsp fish sauce.
1 small pinch salt.
3 pinches caster sugar.

Method

Firstly cook the Salmon;

Firstly soak the salmon skin in fish sauce then drop into the hot oil and fry for around 30 seconds, remove using tongs and drain on towels. Lastly carefully drop the salmon chunks into the hot oil and fry for 2-3 minutes, until they are golden brown on the outside and moist inside. When ready remove and drain on paper towels.

Now for the dressing;

Using a pestle and mortar, pound the sliced chillies with a small pinch of salt into a smooth paste (the salt acts as an abrasive, it is not only for flavour). Next add the sugar and continue to pestle until combined to a smooth paste. Once achieved add the lime juice, mandarin juice and the fish sauce (the key to this dressing is in the balance. You may need to adjust these measurements slightly as strength and size of ingredients vary).

The dressing should be sweet (from the sugar and mandarin juice), salty (from the fish sauce), sour (from the lime juice) and a little spicy from the chillies. The consistency should be thick enough to cling to the salad when coated.

Lastly make the tempura watercress;

Whisk the cold water with the soy sauce. Mix the flour and the tapioca flour together then sift the flours into the water mixture. Whisk it all together but do not over mix, a few lumps are good as they crisp up when fried. You can mix with chopsticks instead of a whisk to help not over mix if you like.

Next place the oil in a deep wok or pan on a high heat (ideal cooking temperature is around 180 degrees centigrade). Individually dip the watercress into the batter and then gently into the oil and fry for 30 seconds, to a minute until golden brown. If cooking multiple pieces at once be sure to gently move them around and turn them so they do not stick and they colour nicely on both sides. When ready remove from hot oil using tongs and drain on paper towels. Serve pretty quickly as they will be at their tastiest and crispiest immediately.

Lastly, assemble the salad;

In a mixing bowl place the mint leaves, betal leaves, krachai, coriander, Thai shallot, pomelo, green mango and mandarin segments. Place a fillet’s worth of salmon chunks into the bowl with this then poor a very generous amount of the dressing over the top. To complete, delicately fold the dressing into the ingredients making sure to not leave anything untouched, be sure to keep the salmon chunks in one piece.

All ready to plate up;

Carefully place a portion of the salmon salad in the center of a plate. Drizzle the excess dressing around the edge of the salad to emphasize that it is oozing with the fresh, flavorful dressing (make sure not to hide the salmon within the salad, show it off). Top with some large pieces of the tempura battered watercress and some of the crispy salmon skin.

Thanks very much for reading and I hope you like the recipe.

See you next time,

Cheers,

Sebby Holmes