Thai pork salad

From the New York Times.

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