This Asian salad with pork is loaded with flavour & texture, you’ll get a taste explosion from the lemongrass, chilli, lime & caramelised pork
Asian salad with pork
Goodbye, winter! Spring has finally arrived YAY!!! Only just a few days in and the sweet spring sun is embracing us with warm hugs.
It’s time for light, fun and vibrant meals! So to welcome you into the glorious spring season I am posting my tasty Asian salad with pork.
This salad is seriously delicious! For those who ain’t a fan of salads don’t run away just yet as this salad is worth giving into as it a flavour explosion.
You get freshness and texture from the cucumber, tomatoes and herbs. The sweetness and fragrance from the sweet caramelised pork mince (grounded pork) with lemongrass. The heat from the chillies and a touch of sourness from the lime to balance the whole dish.
The best thing about this salad is you can turn it into a filling meal by serving it with hot steamed rice. Did I mention this salad looks beautiful? I know I am superficial but you do eat with your eyes after all!
Salad with Tasty Southeast Asian flavours!
This Asian salad with pork recipe was inspired by my travel to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.
I absolutely loved their food as it was never bland or boring. Whether it was stirfry, soups or salads, most of their dishes had a balance of sweet, salty, sour and chilli. They were also aromatic and smelt divine when cooking.
They also had plenty of texture in their food, crispy and chewie dishes were popular. From eating battered crispy fried chill and garlic fish to sticky rice with mango, I was in food heaven and never wanted it to end!
Every time I go to Southeast Asia I fall madly in love with their local produce. From sweet juicy baby pineapples in Thailand, blood cockles in Cambodia and coconut candies in Vietnam.
When I made this salad, I couldn’t decide if it had more of a Vietnamese, Cambodian or Thai influence so I ended up calling it Asian salad. However, what I can confidently tell you is that this salad is fresh, well balanced and absolutely yummy!
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Palm sugar and the environment
It’s traditional to use palm sugar in Southeast Asian cooking.
I was more than ready to give up on palm sugar after hearing that the use of palm products caused extensive damage to the environment and the animals living in it.
With the interest in learning more about this subject, I did a bit of research and was pleased to find out that palm sugar is produced sustainably. It’s palm oil that is the problem as the whole palm tree needs to be destroyed to make the oil whereas palm sugar is made from the sap, so the tree needs to be living.
I am happy that I can once again use palm sugar guilt-free as it gives a unique sweetness that no sweetener can replace. Brown sugar is commonly substituted for palm sugar as both have a caramel taste.
Ingredients list
There is no dressing in this salad, the flavours come from the pork that’s been cooked with the spices. I know how this must sound but you’ll have to trust me!
Lemongrass – I have written a helpful post on HOW TO PREPARE LEMONGRASS if you are unfamiliar with how to prepare it.
Chilli – I usually use either Bird’s eye or small red Thai chillies.
Oil – I prefer using peanut oil in Asian cooking as it adds a subtle nutty flavour but vegetable, canola oil or rice bran can be used instead.
Cucumber – My favourite type of cucumber is Lebanese, as there is no need to peel them before eating. The texture is also crisper than other varieties. To reduce the water content, I removed the seeds before slicing.
Lime – It’s more traditional in Southeast Asian cuisines to use limes, but on this occasion, I used lemon. Why? because limes were $3 each! (USD 2.20) at my supermarket so I grudgingly got lemons instead.
Palm sugar – Can be found sold in Asian specialty stores and some supermarkets do stock them. They are sold in big block or tablespoon-sized circles. Palm sugar can be substituted with brown sugar.
How to make Asian Salad with Pork
Step-by-step guide with photos
Make the spice mix – (lemongrass, chilli, garlic and ginger) – If you have the time and the tools available, mortar and pestle is the best way to pound up the spices. It releases the aromatic flavour outs and forms a lovely paste.
A food processor or blender will do a decent job too, just make sure to pulse it as fine as you can get it.
If you have none of these tools available you can use a sharp knife. Chop all the spice ingredients together until you reach a fine consistency.
Prepare the vegetables and herbs in a large bowl.
Heat up oil in a frypan on medium to high heat, add in the spice mix and cook for a minute stirring quickly. Add in the pork and break it up.
Cook the pork until brown and cooked through, add in the fish sauce soy sauce and palm sugar. Cook until the sugar has dissolved and the pork has caramelised.
Take the pork of the stove and add in the lemon juice and stir to combine. Transfer the pork into the salad bowl and mix gently. Place the salad onto a serving plate and top it off with the peanuts and chilli.
Storage and serving suggestions:
The salad can be eaten as an appetiser or main with some rice and is tasty hot or cold. Any leftovers won’t be good to have the following day as the vegetables and herbs go soggy.
If you enjoyed this recipe, check to out my MANGO SALSA SALMON or THAI CHICKEN AND PUMPKIN STIR FRY
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements.
A Third-Party Application calculated the calories and nutritional information. Please use this as an approximate guide only.
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Cheers (I’ll drink to that) – Cat Tre
ASIAN SALAD WITH PORK
Ingredients
SPICE MIX
- 2 lemongrass (soft parts only) (NOTE 1)
- 1 inch ginger (peeled)
- 2 cloves garlic (peeled)
- 2 small red chilli
FOR THE PAN:
- 1 tbsp peanut oil (NOTE 2)
- 500 gm pork mince (ground pork)
- 75 gm palm sugar (roughly chopped) (NOTE 3)
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 lime (juice only) (NOTE 4)
FOR THE SALAD:
- 250 gm cherry tomatoes (halved)
- 2 Lebanese cucumbers (halved and sliced) (NOTE 5)
- ½ small red onion (sliced thinly)
- 1 bunch of coriander (leaves only)
- 1 bunch of mint (leaves only)
- ¼ cup crushed unsalted peanuts
- 2 small chilli (sliced)
Instructions
- Using a blender or food processor pulse and blend the spice ingredients until very finely. A mortar and pestle can also be used or chop finely with a knife.
- Prepare the salad ingredients by washing and slicing the herbs and vegetables. Transfer the salad into a large bowl but leave out the peanuts .
- Heat up oil in a frypan on medium to high heat, add in the spice mix and cook for a minute stirring quickly. Add in the pork and break it up. Cook the pork until brown and cooked through, add in the fish sauce soy sauce and palm sugar. Cook until the sugar has dissolved and the pork has caramelised.
- Take the pork of the stove and add in the lemon juice and stir to combine. Transfer the pork into the salad bowl and mix gently. Place the salad onto a serving plate and top it off with the peanuts and chilli.
