Name: Thai Asparagus and Squid Salad
Yield: for 4-6 as a starter
Cuisine: Asia
Ingredients: 2 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla); 450–500 g/about 1 lb baby squid, without tentacles, cleaned and each cut into 4 lengthwise; 2 shallots, finely chopped; 1–4 bird’s-eye chillies, finely chopped; ½ tsp salt; 2 tsp rice vinegar; 1 garlic clove, crushed; 450 g/1 lb thin Thai asparagus; 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 2 tbsp groundnut oil; 2 tbsp fresh lime juice; a handful of coriander leaves; 3 tbsp groundnut oil; 2 tsp caster sugar; 2 large red chillies, deseeded and thinly sliced at an angle; 3 shallots, thinly sliced

Preparation info

for
4-6
as a starter

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

New Wave Asian

By Sri Owen

Published 2002

About

This is based on the well-known Thai squid salad, yam pla muek. The miniature asparagus which I use can be bought in most supermarkets in the West nowadays; it really does come from Thailand, and is much smaller and more slender than most of the full-size asparagus grown in Europe and North America. Wild asparagus is a good alternative, if you can get it.