Stir-Fry

Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid's Luang Prabang Fusion Salad

by:
June  3, 2014
4.5
4 Ratings
Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid's Luang Prabang Fusion Salad
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 6 to 8
Author Notes

A salad that breaks every rule, and won't leave you looking for your next course. Adapted slightly from Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia (Artisan, 2000). —Genius Recipes

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • For the salad
  • 3 to 4 large or extra-large eggs, preferably free-range
  • 2 medium heads leaf or Bibb lettuce, washed and dried
  • 4 scallions, trimmed, smashed flat with the side of a cleaver, cut lengthwise in half or into quarters, and then cut crosswise into 2-inch lengths
  • 1 cup cilantro sprigs
  • 1 cup loosely packed, coarsely chopped or torn Chinese celery leaves, or substitute flat-leaf parsley sprigs
  • For the lime juice dressing and the cooked dressing
  • 1 tablespoon minced ginger
  • 2 bird or serrano chiles (optional), minced
  • 3 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 9 to 10 cloves garlic, minced (divided)
  • 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil or minced pork fat
  • 1/2 pound ground pork
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 3/4 cup hot water
  • 1/2 cup rice or cider vinegar
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons dry-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
Directions
  1. Put the eggs in a saucepan with cold water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cook at a gentle rolling boil for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.
  2. Tear the salad greens into large coarse pieces. Place all the greens, including the scallions and herbs, in a large bowl and set aside.
  3. Peel the hard-cooked eggs and cut crosswise in half. Transfer the yolks to a small bowl and mash; set aside. Slice the whites crosswise and set aside.
  4. In a medium bowl, mix together the ginger, chiles, fish sauce, lime juice, and 1 to 2 cloves' worth of minced garlic; set aside.
  5. When you are ready to proceed, put the remaining dressing ingredients near your stovetop. Heat a wok or heavy skillet over high heat. Add the oil or fat and heat for 20 seconds, then add the remaining 8 cloves' worth of minced garlic. Stir-fry briefly, until the garlic starts to change color, about 20 seconds, then toss in the pork. Use your spatula to break up the pork into small pieces as you stir-fry. Once all the pork has changed color completely, after 1 to 2 minutes, add the salt and sugar, then add the hot water and bring to a boil. Add the vinegar, add the reserved mashed egg yolks, and stir to blend.
  6. Pour the hot liquid and pork over the prepared greens and toss gently. Pour the lime juice dressing and toss. Transfer the salad to a large flat platter (or to individual dinner plates) and mound it attractively. Sprinkle on the chopped roasted peanuts, arrange slices of egg white attractively on top, and serve immediately.
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  • Monica Luppi
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  • sevenfaces
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  • Susan W
    Susan W
  • Kristen Miglore
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Genius Recipes

Recipe by: Genius Recipes

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10 Reviews

Lucy
Lucy March 28, 2018
Sooooo, an obaachan (Japanese for grandma) here. Put those eggs in cold tap water, bring to a full boil, cover well, turn off heat, leave for 10 full minutes, voila’! Cool immediately with cold iced water. Perfect hard boiled eggs, using lots less energy. Enjoy! Your beautiful salad is on my TBD list for next week. Merci’, Domo arogato, Gracias!
 
yarnmule
yarnmule July 19, 2017
I was a little sceptical about this salad, as it just seemed... odd. Finally tried it and holy cow was it good! Very strong flavors, but prefectly balanced. My husband is pretty sceptical of anything with fish saice, but he was as blown away as I was. Absolutely delicious.
 
Monica L.
Monica L. May 26, 2015
It was time consuming chopping and creating all the elements but OH so worth it...delicious!!! We are on a paleo type diet thing so I eliminated the sugar and vinegar and subbed pine nuts for the peanuts. It was awesome.
 
holly D.
holly D. May 11, 2015
I found this salad to be too sour for my taste. so, after I couldn't finish my dinner salad, I tried making a little bit of the salad without the juices the meat was cooked in, and it helped considerably. I would do just the lime dressing, and strain the pork before I put it on my salad because even strained it added plenty of vinegar taste.
 
sevenfaces
sevenfaces January 22, 2015
Made this tonight to eat with jasmine rice and thinly sliced strips of a seared flank steak - delicious!!! Next time I will add only 1/4C hot water to the cooked dressing, and skip the peanuts. :)
 
Zoe Z.
Zoe Z. March 28, 2018
I'm with you! That sounds amazing!
 
Susan W.
Susan W. October 17, 2014
While this is not the easiest salad recipe on Earth, it may very well be the best. I made it for my daughter one night and she declared it was the best salad she had ever eaten.
 
Janet
Janet June 8, 2014
While I realize that this recipe is a companion to the article about the salad, it's incomplete and confusing on its own. For instance, the recipe doesn't indicate how to prep the chile, although there's a picture in the accompanying article that shows it minced. And it would be much easier to follow if the salad dressing ingredients were divided into the two dressings. As written, you have garlic listed twice, which is kind of confusing. Finally, I doubt the recipe actually calls for 2 to 3 peanuts. Tablespoons, perhaps?
 
Kristen M.
Kristen M. June 8, 2014
Thank you for this -- unfortunately, for now we don't have the functionality to show 3-part recipe or ingredient lists, but I've updated the recipe to hopefully clarify the rest.
 
Janet
Janet June 10, 2014
Thanks for the clarifications -- it's easier to read now. We thought the salad was very good, by the way. I should have mentioned that to start with.