Name: Yum Gai (Spicy Chicken Salad)
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 50 g coriander leaves, finely sliced; 10 bird’s eye chillies, coarsely pounded; 280 g dried prawns, soaked to soften; 280 g garlic, peeled; 250 g chicken breast meat, sliced; 170 g dried chillies, seeded, soaked to soften, then cut into short lengths; 3 cups (750 ml) cooking oil; 100 g mint leaves, finely sliced; 2 teaspoons salt; 3 tablespoons lemon or lime juice; 2 tablespoons tamarind pulp; 280 g shallots, peeled; 2 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla); 2.5-cm piece dried prawn paste (gapi), roasted and crumbled; ¼ cup (60 ml) coconut cream; 140 g chopped palm sugar or brown sugar; ¼ cup (60 ml) fish sauce (nam pla); ¼ cup (60 ml) water; 6 stalks lemongrass, ends trimmed and finely sliced; mint leaves; 4 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced; 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges; 3 red chillies, seeded and cut into strips; 1 tablespoon chopped palm sugar or brown sugar

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Little Thai Cookbook

By Marshall Cavendish

Published 2014

About

Thai salads can be enjoyed as a starter or a full meal on its own. Like this spicy chicken salad, it can be protein-heavy, with tenderly grilled meat, or mild and light with refreshing slivers of fresh fruit. In this recipe, the chicken can be substituted with boiled or grilled prawns and squid.

Ingredients

10 bird’s eye chillies, coarsely pounded
2 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
1 tablespoon

Method

Prepare the roasted chilli paste. Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and stir-fry until golden brown. Remove and drain. Reheat the oil and add the dried prawns, prawn paste and dried chillies. Stir-fry for about 3 minutes. Remove the ingredients and let the oil cool.
While the oil is cooling, mix the tamarind pulp with ¼ cup (