Servings: 4 to 6
Ready Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
4 tsp vegetable or peanut oil
1 shallot, thinly sliced
5 cups pea tendrils or watercress, loosely packed
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
½ tsp sugar
½ small red chili, finely minced (or more to taste)
1 cup pomelo or lime segments (1 pomelo or 2 small limes), peel and pith removed
1 tsp shrimp powder (optional)
½ cup roasted peanuts, finely chopped
Method
Heat oil in a small skillet. Add shallots and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until crisp and brown, being careful not to burn them (about 3 minutes). Remove shallots from oil with a slotted spoon and set aside. Remove oil from heat and reserve.
Plunge the greens into boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and gently squeeze out excess moisture. Chop coarsely. In a small bowl, combine the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, reserved shallot oil and chili. Mix well.
If using lime in place of pomelo, sprinkle the segments with a tablespoon of sugar and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
To assemble the salad, place greens in the bottom of a large bowl. Lay citrus segments overtop and sprinkle with shrimp powder. Toss well with lime dressing and garnish with fried shallots and roasted peanuts.
Note: Shrimp powder gives the salad a briny, authentic kick, but the dish will still be delicious without it. To make shrimp powder, rehydrate a small handful of dried shrimp in boiling water for 10 minutes, then pat dry and pulverize in an electric chopper.