If you're feeling feisty, chop up the cucumbers a few days in advance and make quick pickles with rice wine vinegar, salt, and sugar.
Thai pork salad
serves 6
Create the marinade and dressing
Combine in a food processor:5 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. peanut oil
6 tbsp. garlic olive oil
2 tbsp. fish sauce
3 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. sambal olek
juice of 4 limes (~6 tbsp.)
1 tsp. kosher salt
Add and puree until smooth:
3" fresh ginger, peeled and rough chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and rough chopped
2/3 cup cilantro, packed flat
Place 2 pork tenderloins in a gallon zip-lock bag. Add 1/3 cup of mixture as a marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator overnight (or at room temperature for 2 hours).
Save remaining marinade mixture for dressing the salad.
Cook & assemble salad
Broil pork for 20 minutes, turning the meat after 10 minutes.
Boil rice noodles for 5-7 minutes, until al dente.
Combine and let rest for 10 minutes:
1 head of Napa cabbage, shredded
half the remaining dressing
Add to salad and toss:
5 green onions, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
3 Persian cucumbers, sliced
1.5 cups cilantro leaves
1.5 cups mint leaves
1 cup basil leaves
all the remaining dressing
kosher salt, to taste
To plate, add rice noodles first. Top with dressed salad, then sliced pork.
Shopping list
2 pork tenderloins (1 package)
1 head Napa cabbage (or 8 cups pre-shredded)
green onions
red bell pepper
3 Persian cucumbers
2 jalapenos (or seranos, or Thai bird chilis)
4 limes
3" fresh ginger
2 bunches cilantro
1 bunch mint
1 bunch basil
Check the pantry
soy sauce
sambal olek
peanut oil
garlic olive oil
fish sauce
brown sugar
sambal olek
peanut oil
garlic olive oil
fish sauce
brown sugar
