Have u ever made a khao yum that is entirely vegan? yes,I am talking about the 'nam budu' dressing as well.
If the answer is no but you are ready for the challenge than u have come to the right place.
WHAT IS A KHAO YUM SALAD ?
khao yum is essentially a rice salad that became popular in the south of thailand because of the whole clean eating trend ,the dressing comprises of a fish sauce that is a lot
''chunkier'' than your regular fish sauce which comes from the south.
WHAT IS THE ''NAM BUDU' DRESSING?
'nam budu' is basically the name of that fish sauce that they use in the south, hence the name 'nam budu' dressing.
SO HOW YOU WILL MAKE THIS DRESSING VEGAN?
well for the dressing I used a good quality dark soy sauce which I will diluted with some water which u will need anyway as we are cooking the dressing, the dark soy sauce will give you the same saltiness and umami flavour that the fish sauce would have given. I also added raw sugar to the dressing but traditionally you would use palm sugar, if u could find that u r most welcome to use that in its place.
the dressing also comprises of some lemongrass ,ginger ,kaffir lime leaves, tamarind pulp, garlic and shallots or u can use 1/4 of a red or yellow onion instead.
WHAT I CAN ADD TO THIS SALAD TO KEEP IT VEGAN?
Instead of dried and roasted shrimp powder I used roasted almonds which will give u a similar umami flavour, keep in mind to toast them really well otherwise they willl turn soggy in the dressing.
Instead of whole shrimp,I just left them out as we have enough umami flavour from the almonds and the soy sauce.
you can add cucumbers ,carrots, purple cabbage, green cabbage, etc. to this salad, but be sure to add something sour in their like a green mango or a pomelo.
traditionally u would add chiffonade of kaffir lime leaves and some finely chopped lemongrass to this salad as well.
WHAT ABOUT THE COLOUR OF THE RICE?
traditionally the rice that is used is thai jasmine rice but u can use any long grain rice that u want,
the traditional blue colour of the rice comes from thai butter fly pea flowers which when dried are soaked in hot water and than that water is used to cook the rice.
SUBSTITUTES FOR BUTTER FLY PEA FLOWER
you can colour the rice pink with beetroot or u can use turmeric for a yellow colour, SKY IS THE LIMIT to what colour u will choose.
CUISINE:THAI
SERVINGS:2
COURSE:MAIN COURSE
TOTAL TIME:60MINS
RECIPIE FOR VEGAN KHAO YUM SALAD
INGREDIENTS FOR SALAD
1/3cup basmati or any long grain rice,soaked in water for 15mins
4cups water (we are using pasta method to boil rice)
1/4 of a beetroot for pink colour/1tsp turmeric powder for yellow/use just enough butter fly pea flowers until your water turns blue for a blue colour
1 small orange carrot, julienned
1small cucumber, julienned
4 kaffir lime leaves, chiffonade
3 to 4 tbsp toasted desiccated coconut
1/4cup almonds, roasted and chopped
1lime wedge
chilli flakes to taste
1 small orange/green mango/few segments of grapefruit
INGREDIENTS FOR 'NAM BUDU' DRESSING
2tbsp chopped lemongrass ,lower portion
2 shallots/1/4 of a yellow onion
1to2 garlic cloves
3tsp of dark soy sauce diluted with 1/4 cup water
2 kaffir lime leaves/regular lime leaves
1 to 2 tbsp of raw sugar
2tbsp tamarind pulp
NOTE: All the dressing measurements are approximate as the water evaporation will differ from pan to pan ,u just need to adjust the dressing until it is equally salty and equally sweet with a almost non noticeable sour note.
INSTRUCTIONS
FOR THE DRESSING
Blend the lemongrass, garlic, and onion until smooth.
add it to a pan with enough water so at the end your dressing is runny, simmer it for 2 mins.
add the kaffir lime leaves and the tamarind pulp along with the raw sugar and the soy sauce at this stage.
simmer for 5 mins, adjust for the salty sweet combo and turn off the heat.
let it cool down to room temperature.
FOR THE SALAD
Boil your rice and let it cool to room temperature before mixing it with the other salad components.
Mix everything together with about 1tbsp of dressing per portion and enjoy at room temperature.