Yum Kratiem (Shrimp and Garlic Salad)

Noted food writer Kay PlunkettHogge included this pungent shrimp and squid salad in her latest title, “Baan: Recipes and Stories from My Thai Home.”

Oil, for deep frying

10 cashews

2 large dried chiles

4 ounces shrimp, peeled and

deveined

2 ounces squid, cut into rings 2 small shallots, peeled and finely

sliced

4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely

sliced

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

leaves

4 Thai bird’s eye chiles

Juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

Crisp lettuce leaves, to serve

Instructions: In a wok or large skillet, heat 1 inch of oil on mediumhigh until shimmering. Deep-fry the cashews and large chiles until golden brown. Remove the nuts and chiles from the oil and set aside to drain on paper towels.

Fry the shrimp in the same oil until they’ve just turned pink and are cooked through. Set the shrimp aside to drain on paper towels.

Turn down the heat to low. Deepfry the squid slowly, moving it continuously, until it’s crisp and deep gold. This may take several minutes, depending on the size of the squid. Set the squid aside to drain on paper towels.

Put the shallots, garlic and cilantro into a mixing bowl.

In a mortar and pestle, roughly pound the bird’s eye chiles. Add the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar. Stir the contents of the mortar together until the sugar dissolves. Pour that over the shallot mixture and stir to combine. Cut the large fried chiles into 1-inch pieces and add to the mixing bowl. Fold in the shrimp, squid and cashews. Serve the salad on a plate lined with lettuce leaves.

Makes 4 servings

Per serving: 92 calories, 3 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 93 mg cholesterol, 492 mg sodium, 8 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fiber, 2 g sugar, 10 g protein

Photos by Paul Stephen / Staff