Thai Yum Som O

Pomelos are on sale everywhere again at the moment. These oversized citrus fruits are perfect for making delicious salads. After I presented a pomelo salad from Myanamar at some time ago, here is a Thai pomelo salad with prawns - a “Yum Som O” ( ยำส้มโอ ). This is spicier and uses far more ingredients than the Burmese version, resulting in a more complex flavour.

Preparation

First peel the pomelo, separate the flesh from the white fibres and then pluck into small pieces. Then place the cleaned flesh in a bowl. If using frozen prawns, place them in lukewarm water so that they can defrost.

Then peel the shallots, cut them into slices, rub them dry with kitchen paper and finally roast them in a small pan or frying pan without oil until they are browned. If you don’t have ready-roasted garlic, which you can buy in Asian shops, or don’t want to use it, then you should do the same with one or two cloves of garlic.

The same applies to the roasted coconut strips. If you have fresh coconut to hand, roast it, of course, but the rest can use unflavoured coconut chips from the chemist’s and roast them. Finally, roughly crush a few young peanuts in a mortar. Keep these and all the roasted ingredients and a handful of cashew nuts in small bowls ready for use in the near future.

Now mix the fish sauce with the tamarind paste and sugar in a cup or other small container and stir until the paste and sugar have dissolved . Then cut the Thai chillies into small rings and add them to the mixed sauce.

Next, fry the defrosted or fresh tiger prawns in a little oil until they have completely changed colour and are cooked through. Then allow the prawns to cool slightly.

In the meantime, pour all the prepared ingredients and the sauce over the pomelo slices and mix everything well. Finally, scatter the lukewarm prawns over the salad and garnish with a few fresh mint leaves. Serve the finished salad immediately.