WATERMELON SALAD WITH PEPPER AND CASHEW-NUT BRITTLE
Watermelons are social – their sweet, refreshing flesh invites the company of all manner of flavours and is especially good with a salty component. While feta is the popular choice, I have borrowed from the flavours of Asia here. This salad is a riot of fresh herbs, chilli heat, tamarind sourness and umami soy sauce oomph.
SERVES 4
1 mini watermelon (rind removed), roughly cut into bite-sized cubes
1 red onion, very thinly sliced into crescents handful of picked coriander leaves handful of picked mint leaves handful of torn Thai basil leaves large handful of crisp-fried shallots
1 red chilli, thinly sliced on the diagonal
FOR THE PEPPER AND CASHEW-NUT BRITTLE
100g toasted cashew nuts
¼ tsp black peppercorns, toasted and roughly ground
½ tsp Sichuan peppercorns, toasted and roughly ground
150g caster sugar
FOR THE WATERMELON SALAD DRESSING
2 fat garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 small red bird’s eye chilli, roughly chopped 1 tbsp palm sugar or light soft brown sugar 50ml pineapple juice juice of ½ lime
50ml light soy sauce
30g tamarind paste
To make the cashew-nut brittle, spread the cashew nuts on a baking tray lined with baking paper or a silicone baking sheet. Sprinkle over both types of the ground peppercorn. Cook the sugar in a small saucepan over a medium heat without stirring until melted, then bring to the boil and cook until dark caramel in colour. Pour it over the nuts. Leave to stand until cooled and hard, then break into pieces and roughly crush using a pestle and mortar. Set aside in an airtight container.
For the watermelon salad dressing, using a pestle and mortar pound together the garlic and chilli until you have a paste, then add the sugar, pineapple juice, lime juice, soy sauce and tamarind and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Toss the watermelon and onion in a bowl and drizzle liberally with the dressing. Add the herbs and toss to just combine, then serve scattered with the crisp-fried shallots, cashew brittle and sliced red chilli.