Prep time: 12 minutes

Cook time: 26 minutes

Serves: 4 people

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A visually enticing, multi-textured Asian salad, with unusual, robust and tantalizing flavours – it will be a definite hit with your dinner guests! Great for brunch, lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:

  • brined bamboo shoots, about 200g, sliced Click here to buy
  • 8 shallots, sliced thinly lengthwise
  • 3 cloves garlic, sliced in rounds
  • 2 dry red chilies or 1 teaspoon crushed chilies
  • 15 freshwater chestnuts, about 150g
  • 4 baby corn, thinly sliced along the diagonal
  • 3 segments pomelo
  • 2 green onions, sliced into thin circles
  • 3 tablespoons fresh coriander, finely chopped
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon sesame oil
  • 3 tablespoons chickpea flour or besan
  • 6 tablespoons oil
  • A handful of thin rice noodles Click here to buy

 

For Dressing:

  • 3 tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons light soya sauce
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar Click here to buy

 

Instructions:

  1. Heat oven to 200 degrees C.
  2. Slice bamboo shoots into thin slices of about 2” by ¼” in size. Cover with water and boil in a saucepan for 6-8 minutes until tender but form. Drain and cool.
  3. Combine shallots and garlic slices and roast on a baking tray in a hot oven for 8 minutes or until browned.
  4. If using whole dried chilies, dry roast on a frying pan on high heat for 3-4 minutes until chilies start browning. Pound in a mortar until you get a coarse powder.
  5. Pound together chilies, shallots, and garlic in a mortar.
  6. Peel tough outer green covering of water chestnuts. Slice chestnuts into thin slices along the length.
  7. Steam baby corn slices for 2-3 minutes until soft. Cool.
  8. Remove peel and white pith from pomelos, and separate about 3 segments. Clean membranes from segments and break into ½” pieces.
  9. Combine bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, baby corn, pomelo, green onion, and 3 tablespoons coriander in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mix.
  10. Combine dressing ingredients in a mixing bowl. Pour dressing over salad, tossing well to mix. Combine ¾ of shallot mixture into the salad.
  11. Heat oil on medium heat in a frying pan.  Drop noodles in oil and remove with a slotted spoon as soon as they puff before noodles brown.
  12. Garnish with chickpea flour, sesame oil, and remaining shallot-garlic-chili mixture.

Critical Ingredients: If you don’t have fresh bamboo shoots, canned will work just fine, as will canned water chestnuts. If you don’t have an oven, go ahead and fry the shallots and garlic in oil. The oil in which these are fried is usually added to the dressing. Chickpea flour adds crunch but can be left out if not available. Pomelo can be substituted with grapefruit, blood orange, or navel oranges. If you want to. be completely fat-free leave out sesame oil and fried noodles.

Bamboo and Water Chestnut Salad

 

Bamboo and Water Chestnut Salad

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