I’ve made this treasure of a recipe no less than three times for dinner parties, and it’s always a hit. Each time I make it, I take all the photos of the prep, but by the time it’s ready to go on the table the kitchen looks like a crime scene, I’ve had more cocktails than I’d planned and I’m running an hour late. The final photo never, ever gets taken.
But finally, here it is – I’ll admit, it’s missing the shaved carrots on the top which were left out in a poorly organized trip to the grocery store, but I decided I couldn’t let a couple of carrots keep this salad off of your table too. (That said, you should include the carrots when you make it). I’ll also admit that I’m not being particularly original sharing this (it has been written up by Smitten Kitchen – albeit in a slightly adapted way – and I’m sure others) but just consider my duplicative write-up further evidence that this delectable salad is something you need to make, and sooner rather than later.
Now, this salad is not for the faint of heart – it’s spicy – but it also covers every major flavor profile, as many Thai dishes do. You’ve got salty, sweet and spicy in equal measure in a very simple-seeming (and simple to put together) recipe. And while the recipe as written is, I believe, perfect, I’ve also been known to use this dressing on about a zillion other salad iterations if I’m not going to be in Chinatown where Chinese celery is readily available.
As usual, I also love this salad because it’s not just a platter of torn lettuce. It’s got eggs – protein! And they fried in a pan of oil to browned, crispy perfection, with soft yolks that will run into the salad and make everything that much better. Taken all together, it’s a little unexpected, but when you take a couple of bites, I believe you will come to the same revelation I did – that 1) Andy Ricker, Pok Pok chef extraordinaire, is brilliant and 2) of course fried eggs belong on every salad you make from here on out.
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice (preferably from Key limes or spiked with a small squeeze of Meyer lemon juice)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons palm sugar simple syrup (recipe below)
- 1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
- 3g peeled garlic, halved lengthwise and very thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 teaspoons)
- 2g fresh Thai chiles (about 2 small), preferably green, thinly sliced
- 14g green leaf lettuce, cut into 2-inch-thick pieces (about 1 cup, lightly packed)
- 1 oz. peeled yellow onion, thinly sliced with the grain (about 1/4 cup, lightly packed)
- 14g peeled carrot, cut into long (about 3-inch), thin (about 1/8-inch) strips (about 1/4 cup, lightly packed)
- 1/4 cup very coarsely chopped Chinese celery (thin stems and leaves), lightly packed
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro (thin stems and leaves), lightly packed
Instructions
- First, make the palm sugar simple syrup. Combine the sugar and the water in a very small pot or pan. Set it over medium heat and cook, stirring and breaking up the sugar as it softens, just until the sugar has completely dissolved. If the water begins to bubble before the sugar has completely dissolved, turn off the heat and let it finish dissolving in the hot liquid.
- Next, fry the eggs. Heat a wok or nonstick frying pan over high heat, then add just enough oil to reach a depth of a generous 1/4 inch. Once the oil begins to smoke, carefully crack in the eggs (holding them close to the oil to avoid splatter) and decrease the heat to medium. The eggs should spit, bubble and crackle wildly. The whiles should puff and develop large transparent bubbles.
- Once the whites get crispy and deep golden brown at the edges, 45 seconds to 1 minute, use a spatula to flip the eggs (try not to break the yolks, but if you do, it's fine) and keep cooking until the bottom is golden brown and the yolks are set but still molten, 30 to 45 seconds more. Transfer the eggs to paper towels to drain. Discard the oil, then rinse and wipe out the wok and let it cool. You can fry the eggs up to 15 minutes or so before you make the salad.
- To make the dressing, add the lime juice, simple syrup, fish sauce, garlic and chiles to the wok, set it over medium heat and heat the mixture just until it's warm to the touch, 15 seconds or so. Turn off the heat.
- Quarter the eggs through the yolks and add them to the wok along with the remaining ingredients. Stir gently but well, then transfer to the salad, liquid and all, to a plate in a low heap, so that most of the herbs end up near the top, and serve.
Notes
From Pok Pok
