Khmer Mango Salad

Continued from yesterday’s post about Khmer salad dressing, here’s another salad:

Mango Salad or Ngiom Svay in Khmer

1 large green mango, julienned
1 small carrot, julienned (optional)

3/4 lb. boiled shrimp, peeled

4 large shallots or 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced

A bunch of mint leaves

A bunch of basil leaves

¼ cup roasted peanuts, roughly ground

¼ cup fish-sauce dressing

Toss mango, carrot (if using), shrimp, shallots, mint and basil leaves together. Add the dressing and toss again. Sprinkle with peanuts and serve.

Note: Southeast Asian markets usually carry young green mangos. If you have one in your neighborhood, try there. If not, you can use those large mangos found in most western markets. Pick the hardest ones possible. Those mangos usually taste sweeter than the green ones. If you prefer a tarter taste, add extra lemon/lime juice to your salad.

Mango salad is the most loved of all Khmer salads. We make it with all kind of protein, from smoked fish to dried shrimp to pork belly to fresh seafood. Try it with a combination of pork belly and shrimp. 

Khmer Mango Salad

Khmer Salad Dressing

Fish-sauce dressing

5 garlic cloves

3 red chilies (optional)

½ cup fish sauce

½ cup lemon juice

½ cup sugar

A pinch of salt

Pound the garlic and chilies in a mortar. Spoon out and place the garlic/chili mixture in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well. Taste and adjust accordingly.

Note: Except for beef and fish salads (the pleah variety), this fish-sauce dressing is used in majority of Khmer salads (ngiom) and a few relishes (chrourk). You can also use it as a dipping sauce for boiled/broiled seafood. Drizzle some fish-sauce dressing over broiled or deep-fried whole fish and serve it with some sliced cucumbers and tomatoes.

To start, here's a very popular salad:

Cambodian Cabbage Salad

Cambodian Cabbage Salad or Ngiom Spai Kdaob in Khmer

1 cabbage, about 2 pounds, quartered and thinly sliced

3/4 pound boiled chicken breast, shredded

1 medium carrot, thinly sliced into matchsticks

4 medium shallots, thinly sliced

3 oz bean thread soaked in hot water for 30 minutes and drained (optional)

1 red or orange bell pepper, thinly sliced (optional)

A bunch of mint and basil leaves

1/3 cup of roasted peanuts, roughly ground

1/3 cup fish-sauce dressing

In a large bowl, toss everything together, setting aside the peanuts and the dressing. When you’re ready to eat, toss the salad with the dressing and sprinkle with peanuts and serve. 

Note: The traditional recipe calls for chicken, but you can also make it with boiled pork belly or shrimp or a combination of all three.

Another salad, with apples as the main star:

Apple Salad

Apple Salad or Ngiom Pomme in Franco-Khmer

3/4 lb. boiled shrimp, peeled

3 large Granny Smith apples, julienned

3 medium shallots, or 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

Some mint leaves

Some basil leaves

¼ cup roasted peanuts, coarsely ground

¼ cup fish-sauce dressing

Toss apples, shallots, shrimp, mint and basil leaves together. Add the dressing and toss again. Sprinkle with peanuts and serve.

Note: Use crunchy apples, the sourer the apples, the better.

Quick and Easy Salad

A family’s favorite, this salad is based on the Khmer-Franco-Vietnamese Loc Lac, which is a wok-tossed beef with copious amount of black pepper.

1 head of curly green lettuce, torn to bite-size pieces

1 large tomato, halved and thinly sliced

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

Place the lettuce on a plate or in a salad bowl, arrange sliced tomato on lettuce and place sliced onion on top of the tomato. Drizzle some olive oil, soy sauce and red wine vinegar on the salad. Toss and serve. For a full meal, add sliced grilled beef.

Num Sleuk Sros: A Khmer Sweet

Num Sleuk Sros

Num Sleuk Sros, Khmer freshly wrapped little cakes

Here’s a short Khmer lesson:

Num = cake/cakes

Sleuk = leaf/leaves

Sros = fresh/freshness