Pomelo salad
A Thai salad in which pomelo does something no other citrus can: its flesh breaks into separate, dry pearls that release little juice and do not water down the dressing. Grapefruit would make a far more watery salad. The rest is the familiar Thai balance of four flavours, with toasted coconut adding a fifth — nutty sweetness, and that is what sets this salad apart.
Your own work in that: 7 min.
- Peeling the pomelo 20 min
- Dressing 10 min
- Prawns 8 min
- Assembly 7 min
Step by step
0 / 7 donePeel the pomelo into pearls
Remove the thick skin, separate the segments and strip the white membrane from each, breaking the flesh apart with your fingers into loose pearls. It takes about 20 minutes and is the only laborious part — the membrane is bitter and tough.
Ingredients: 1 pcs pomelo · 300 g prawns · 3 pcs shallots · 1 bunch coriander · 20 pcs mint · 50 g desiccated coconut · 60 g peanuts
No membrane — the flesh falls into dry pearls.Toast the coconut
Toast the coconut in a dry pan for 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until golden and fragrant. Watch it — coconut goes from golden to burnt within seconds, and burnt it is bitter.
Ingredients: 1 pcs pomelo · 300 g prawns · 3 pcs shallots · 1 bunch coriander · 20 pcs mint · 50 g desiccated coconut · 60 g peanuts
Golden, not brown — coconut burns in seconds.Fry the garlic crisp
Fry the sliced garlic in the oil for 2 minutes, to pale gold, and drain on paper. Keep the oil — the prawns are fried in it and pick up the garlic aroma.
Ingredients: 2 tbsp oil · 2 cloves garlic
Cook the prawns and cool them
Fry the prawns in the garlic oil 90 seconds a side, until pink and opaque in the centre, and set aside to cool. Warm prawns in the salad would wilt the herbs and heat the pomelo, which should stay cool and refreshing.
Ingredients: 1 pcs pomelo · 300 g prawns · 3 pcs shallots · 1 bunch coriander · 20 pcs mint · 50 g desiccated coconut · 60 g peanuts
Mix the dressing and balance it
Dissolve the palm sugar in the lime juice, add the fish sauce, chopped chilli and shrimp paste. Taste and balance — it should be sour, salty and sweet at once, with the dressing noticeably stronger than the finished salad.
Ingredients: 3 pcs limes · 2 tbsp fish sauce · 2 tbsp palm sugar · 2 pcs chillies · ½ tsp shrimp paste
Toss by hand just before serving
Combine the pomelo, prawns, shallot and herbs, pour over the dressing and toss with your hands, very gently. The pomelo pearls burst under the pressure of a spoon and release juice that dilutes the dressing.
Ingredients: 1 pcs pomelo · 300 g prawns · 3 pcs shallots · 1 bunch coriander · 20 pcs mint · 50 g desiccated coconut · 60 g peanuts
By hand and gently — the pearls must not burst.Scatter coconut and peanuts
Scatter over the toasted coconut, peanuts and crisp garlic only on the plate. Mixed in earlier they soak up dressing and soften within minutes, and crunch is the entire point of those three.
Ingredients: 1 pcs pomelo · 300 g prawns · 3 pcs shallots · 1 bunch coriander · 20 pcs mint · 50 g desiccated coconut · 60 g peanuts
Before you start
Choosing a pomelo
A good pomelo is heavy for its size with taut skin. Both pink and white varieties work; pink is often sweeter, so taste the dressing and cut back on the palm sugar if needed.
Instead of prawns
Grilled chicken, smoked fish or tofu work well instead of prawns. The pomelo, coconut and peanuts stay — they make this salad, and the protein is only an addition.
Eat it straight away
The dressing quickly draws juice out of the pomelo and after a quarter of an hour the salad turns watery. The pomelo can be peeled ahead and kept in the fridge for a day; dress it only at the last moment.
