Читать книгу Greenfeast - Nigel Slater - Страница 26

radishes 12

carrots, medium 3

papaya, ripe 350g

coriander leaves from 12 bushy stems

micro herbs 2 handfuls

Thai basil leaves 15

For the dressing:

palm sugar 3 teaspoons

rice vinegar 2 tablespoons

a juicy lime

lemon grass 2 stalks

fish sauce 3 teaspoons

Make the dressing: crumble the palm sugar into a small mixing bowl and pour in the rice vinegar. Halve the lime – I like to roll it on the work surface, pressing down firmly as I do so before slicing, you get more juice that way – then squeeze the juice into the sugar and vinegar. Season with salt and stir until the sugar has dissolved.

Place the lemon grass on a chopping board and bash firmly with a rolling pin to split and crush the plump end of the stalks. Add them to the dressing with the fish sauce and leave for thirty minutes to infuse.

Halve the radishes and put them into a bowl of iced water. Scrub or peel the carrots, then shave them with a vegetable peeler into long thin shavings. Add them to the radishes.

Shortly before serving, when the radishes and carrots have spent twenty minutes in the iced water and the dressing is well infused, peel the papaya and discard the black seeds and fibres. Slice the fruit into small, thick pieces about the size of a stamp and put them in a large mixing bowl.

Pick the leaves from the coriander and add them to the papaya together with the micro herbs (leaves and stalks) and the whole Thai basil leaves. Dry the carrots in a salad spinner, then toss them and the radishes with the papaya and herbs. Discard the lemon grass stalks and pour the dressing over the papaya before tossing the ingredients gently together, taking care not to crush the fruit.

• I find the large papayas, usually sold in halves, best for salads. They seem to ripen better than the smaller fruit. Their flesh is more luscious. The downside is apparent when you realise that your purchase takes up an entire shelf in the fridge.