About the Recipe
When you are looking for a healthy, satisfying salad that disappoints neither taste buds nor tummy, you don't need to look any further than this delicious Thai style salad. The amounts used here make a substantial one bowl lunch for two or could serve three or four as a side salad. I call this is a Thai style recipe because I have reduced the amount of heat in the dish - when I eat this salad made by my Thai recipes, it literally blows my head off! Obviously, if your taste buds tolerate spicier flavours, then feel free to throw in more chilli!
Ingredients
2 X 40g / 1.5 oz packets of beanthread noodles
1/2 red onion
1/2 yellow bell pepper
1 stalk of celery
10 baby tomatoes
300g / 10oz firm tofu
50g / 1.75oz carrot, peeled
70g / 2.5 oz green beans
for the dressing:
1 garlic clove
2 tsp of sugar
juice of 2 limes
2 - 3 tbsp fish sauce
a little dried chilli flakes
2 tbsp of vegetable oil
some kitchen papers
4 crabsticks or seafood sticks
some coriander leaves for garnishing (option)
Preparation
cook the beanthread noodles in boiling water for 2 mins or according the packet. stir a couple of times, then drain and set aside
peel and thinly slice the red onion. soak the sliced onion in a small bowl of water for 10 mins to reduce the bitterness
halve and slice the bell pepper
thinly slice the celery diagonally
halve the baby tomatoes
rest your tofu on a kitchen paper for 5 - 10 mins to absorb some of the water content
slice the peeled carrot diagonally, then cut into matchsticks
top & tail the green beans and cut in half. then, cook in boiling water for 2 - 3 minutes. drain and set aside
to make the dressing:
mince the garlic and put in a jug or a small bowl. add the sugar, lime juice & fish sauce and stir well
remove the tofu from the kitchen paper. cut it into 2cm cubes. heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a frying pan. fry the tofu until lightly browned on the both sides, then drain on kitchen paper*
tear the crabsticks into strings
combine all the vegetables in a large bowl. add the shredded crabsticks, beanthread noodles, tofu and the dressing. mix everything together well
garnish with some coriander leaves and enjoy
*when you fry the tofu, the oil may spit, so either turn down the heat or put a lid on the pan