Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Yum Pla Meuk ยำปลาหมึก Spicy Calamari And Pork Salad


This has to be one of my very favourite Thai salad, there are no hard to get ingredients here but the different textures and flavours will sure to make it your favourite too. Omit the pork if you are a non-pork eater or not a big fan of "turf and surf".
Apart from having the freshest ingredients you can lay your hands on, the key to success for this dish is not to overcooked the pork and the calamari. If you are unable to get any young ginger, omit it altogether as the old ginger will be too harsh for this dish. Do spend an extra 5 minutes to prepare the fried garlic, it will add the extra nuttiness to your salad. I serve this with Green chicken curry and plenty of steamed rice. If you are a fan of Thai salad don't forget to check out all previous posts, click HERE.
P.S Do have a taste of the chilies before you start the dressing, adjust the amount as you see fit!

serves 4 as part of a Thai meal
you'll need;
2 calamari/squid (400g) cleaned, scored, sliced
1 pork fillet (350g) poached, sliced
100g of young ginger, very thinly sliced
1/2 cup of mint
1/2 cup of coriander leaves
3 spring onions, diagonally sliced
5 shallots, sliced
1 red chili, sliced
fried garlic (optional)

for the dressing;
5 coriander roots, chopped
5 to 8 bird chilies, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
3  tbs of castor sugar
3 tbs of fish sauce
6 tbs of lime juice
pinch of salt
pound wet spices with a little salt the add in the rest of the ingredients, it should taste hot, salty, sour, and sweet.

Prepare the dressing and have herbs and aromatics ready

Place the pork fillet in a pot of boiling water, turn off the heat with the cover on for 25 minutes. Rest and cut into thin slices. Return the poaching water to a boil and blanch the calamari for 15 to 20 seconds.

Combine everything in a bowl and mix well

Serve right away as a beer snack

Add fried garlic if using. Serve as part of a Thai meal.

40 comments:

  1. wow, this looks yummy. I love yum pla meuk too. and yum woon sen. Actually all the yums:) this makes me drool. lol.

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  2. You make everything seems so easy, I'll be happy if I'm able to get something like this at any Thai restaurants. The dish looks so delicate despite all the flavouring, well done!

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  3. Yummy! I wish they serve salad like this in Melbourne's Thai restaurants!

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  4. CheapAppetite ,
    Thank you :) I have yet to meet anyone that dislike yum :)

    Ming,
    Thank you, I'm looking forward to a day when we are able to get decent thai salad in melbourne too!

    Peralyn,
    謝謝!早就完了:)

    Anonymous,Thanks :) I guess we'll have to wait :)

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  5. รัก ยำปลาหมึกมาก!
    คุณ เป็น ผู้ ปรุง อาหาร ที่ ดี!

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  6. Hey buddy, try calling you but your phone is turned off. Left some vegetable outside your house, enjoy!
    Thursday sounds good to me, give us a call.
    Another stunning looking dish!

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  7. Glad to see you're back in the game Suresh. That looks absolutely amazing!!

    PS Nice finger in the photo :P It took me about 10 seconds of scratching my head to realize what i was looking at

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  8. muu :)
    ขอบคุณ มาก!

    fitzboy,
    Thanks for the goodies, I'm having some of the lettuce right now!
    See you on Thursday.

    Daniel,
    Thank you! Have been back for 2 days now haha.

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  9. Sounds like a perfectly healthy tasty meal for the New Year!

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  10. We have got everything needed for the curry, bought some Thai sweets from the supermarket too. Will email you some photos soon :)
    Another wonderful looking dish!

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  11. Amazing. It looks so delicious! And light too. I love recipes that have no hard and fast rules, like this. Lovely presentation!

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  12. That's such a lovely salad. Looks very delicious. Never thought of combining pork and squid.

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  13. Harriet from CarltonJanuary 6, 2010 at 12:40 AM

    I love this dish, is it really that hard to serve something fresh and simple like this in a restaurant?
    I have made the mung bean noodle salad and the beef salad, bet this is just as good!
    Must try to work on my presentation too!

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  14. That looks absolutely amazing!!
    A bientôt.
    See soon.

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  15. Donna,
    Thank you! It is very light and healthy indeed after all the feasting lol

    Vijay,
    Hello my dear I'm glad you made your way to Bridge Road for the shopping, looking forward to receive the photos.

    Ju,
    Thank you! That's the beauty of Thai salad, very versatile :)

    Mary,
    Thanks! The Thais are very good at combining seafood and meat :)

    Harriet,
    Thank you! I have been asking the same question for a very long time too.
    I'm glad you tried those recipes :)
    Haha just try not to think too much about that!

    Saveurs et Gourmandises ,
    Thank you very much!!

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  16. You make it seem so easy and delicious.

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  17. I like both calamari and pork...Excellent combo..Ooh!!!Yummy yumm!!!

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  18. aaah!! thai food.

    I once had this when I was at the thai food festival in cochin. The pork salad looks yummy...mm...

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  19. This looks AWESOME! Beautiful presentation!

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  20. Matteo,
    Thanks! it is very easy though :)

    Sarah,
    Thank you! you must give it a try then!

    Kenny,
    Thank you :)

    Abhilash,
    Thanks and I'm glad you have tried it before!

    Jennie,
    Thank you very much :)

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  21. This salad looks amazing. And I love that photo of the squid.

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  22. Love the flavours! Sour and spicy salad is always so inviting.

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  23. OMG that is one of my favourite food.
    Looks sooo delicious!
    And what gorgeous photos!!!! Bravo!
    hugs

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  24. I love this.. it's my kind of food.. I am gradually falling in love with you.... your food ;)

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  25. Salad looks great..As usual, nice pic description :-)

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  26. What a nice mixture of ingredients! I like how you have the different textures and colors. Your photos are great!

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  27. Wow, this salad looks delicious! Happy New Year!

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  28. That looks positively inviting. I am wary of trying squid but it looks so good I might give it a god.

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  29. the real mia,
    Thanks! haha it is one of my favourite photos too :)

    pigpigscorner,
    Thank you, you are absolutely right!!

    Betty,
    Thank you! Can you get Thai food in Athens?
    Hugs

    Fragrantielles ,
    Thanks, once you have tried it, they will be no turning back! haha

    mycookinghut,
    Oh thank you! I can't wait to cook for you and a few other new friends one day!

    Gulmohar,
    Thank you very much :)

    Lyndsey,
    Thank you, something you must try when the weather is warmer :)

    Blackswan,
    Thank you :), Happy new year to you too!

    Nostalgia,
    Thanks! Just make sure you don't over cooked the squid ok?

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  30. I am craving for Thai food after seeing this!
    Oh all the different flavours and textures! Well done!

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  31. wow impressive love it I will get a snap of me on the treadmill with the laptop he he

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  32. Oh I'm so late these days!
    What a wonderful looking salad, this is my sort of summer food!

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  33. Looks like a great dish for the New Year!

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  34. Mary,
    Haha make some soon, this is so easy :)
    Thanks :)

    rebecca,
    Thank you :) I think you tweet this too thanks!
    Do take a snap of that haha

    love to eat,
    Yes you are indeed!
    Thank you! Thai salad for summer is the way to go!

    Nicci,
    Thank you! It is indeed light and fresh after all the big feasts :)

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  35. Wow this looks super yummy! We had some really bad Thai seafood salad last week, everything was overcooked and the calamari was so tough I felt like I was eating rubber band :(

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  36. This looks great and yummy.
    Happy New Year!

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  37. KL girl in MELB,
    Thank you! I'm sorry to hear about that, I seldom order seafood salad at Thai restaurant anymore due to similar experience :(

    Rita,
    Thank you very much.
    Happy new year to you too!

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