Thai Yum Fak Thong Thod
Salad with Fried Pumpkin, Minced Meat and Peanuts
Pumpkin can also be prepared as a salad in Thai cuisine. How you can prepare such an autumnal, colorful “Yum Fak Thong Thod”
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Since I’m lazy, I like to use Hokkaido pumpkin for this because you can simply process it with the skin on. And when I’m really exceptionally lazy, I use the pre-packaged Hokkaido cubes that are available in some supermarkets in autumn.
I prepare the pumpkin in this recipe in the air fryer, but alternatively it can also be prepared in a proper deep fryer or in the oven. In Thailand it would probably just be deep-fried in a wok.
Ingredients for two servings
- 300g (10.6 oz) Hokkaido pumpkin
- 100g (3.5 oz) minced pork
- 40g (1.4 oz) peanuts
- one shallot
- one spring onion
- 2 Thai chilis
- 2-3 tbsp fish sauce
- juice of half a lime
- 1 tsp palm sugar or coconut blossom sugar
- 2-3 sprigs coriander
- 3-4 tbsp vegetable oil
Preparation
First we need to cut the pumpkin into small cubes. With Hokkaido we can leave the skin on. Then we spray or drizzle the pumpkin cubes with vegetable oil and put them in the air fryer at 180°C (356°F) for ten to twelve minutes. We turn them halfway through.
While the pumpkin is browning in the fryer, we can fry the minced meat with a little oil until it is cooked through. We can also peel the shallot and cut it into rings together with the spring onion and Thai chilis.
When the pumpkin cubes are cooked and lightly browned, we can take them out of the air fryer and let them cool down a bit. In the meantime, we can squeeze half a lime and mix its juice with fish sauce. In this mixture, we completely dissolve the palm sugar by stirring vigorously.
Now we put the cooled pumpkin together with the minced meat, peanuts, shallot, spring onion and Thai chilis in a bowl. Then we pluck the coriander leaves from their stems and add them to the bowl as well. Finally, we pour the lime-fish sauce dressing over everything and mix all ingredients thoroughly.
The finished Yum Fak Thong Thod can then be served immediately while still slightly lukewarm.
