Servings:

4 - 6

Level of difficulty:

Intermediate

Ingredients

a) Peanut Sauce

250 g Raw peanuts
Vegetable oil for deep-frying

For the chili mixture:
20 g Garlic
50 g Whole shallots
25 g Red chilies, deseeded

400 ml Water
50 g Palm sugar
1 Clove garlic, chopped
2 Whole shallots, chopped
2 tbsp Vegetable oil for stir-frying
½ cm Galangal, crushed
3 Kaffir lime leaves
3 Bay leaves
165 ml Coconut milk
½ tsp Tamarind paste
½ tsp Dried chili flakes (optional)
2 tbsp Sweet Soya sauce
1 tsp Sugar
Salt

b) Vegetable Mix

½ Cucumber, peeled and grated, avoiding the seeds.
100 g Round lettuce, roughly torn.
300 g New potatoes, boiled and sliced ½ cm thick.
150 g Carrot strips, blanched for 2 minutes.
100 g Long beans boiled for 4 minutes (or fine beans, blanched for 2 minutes), cut 2 cm long.
150 g Bean sprouts, blanched for 1 minute.
200 g Fresh tofu.

c) Garnish

4 Boiled eggs, cut into quarters.
Chopped celery leaves or parsley
Fried vegetable crackers
Fried shallots

Method

a) Peanut Sauce

- In a medium hot wok, deep fry the peanuts for 2 -3 minutes stirring continuously; transfer to a plate lined with kitchen towel and cool down.
- Prepare the chili mixture by deep frying the garlic, whole shallots and red chili for 1 minute, then set aside.
- Put the cold peanut and chili mixture in a food processor; blend roughly; add 200 ml water and the palm sugar; blend again until almost smooth.
- Heat the oil in a pan; add the chopped garlic and shallots; stir fry until slightly brown; lower the heat.
- Add the peanut mixture, coconut milk, galangal, bay leaves, Kaffir lime leaves and tamarind paste; bring to the boil with medium heat, stirring occasionally; add the rest of the water.
- When the sauce has slightly thickened, lower the heat, season with salt, sugar and Soya sauce; bring back to the boil; take off the heat and let it cool.
- Add the dried chili flakes, if you want to spice it up more!

b) Vegetable Mix

- Slice the tofu 2 cm thick; season with salt; shallow fry for 4 minutes each side; transfer to a plate lined with kitchen towel; let it cool down, then cut into small cubes;

c) Garnish

- Arrange all the vegetable mix onto a plate.
- Pour the peanut sauce over the top.
- Garnish with boiled eggs, chopped celery leaves or parsley, fried vegetable crackers and crunchy fried shallots.