Thai salad with crispy whitebait

Recipes / Fish

Experience this crowd-pleasing starter that will entertain your family and friends all summer long.

Recipe «Thai salad with crispy whitebait» presented in category Recipes / Fish, to prepare this dish you will need no more 10 minutes. To make this dish at home by prescription from the author Gomer would need: 2 green mangoes , finely shredded, 100g Asian salad leaves, 1 cup mint leaves, 1/2 cup Vietnamese mint leaves, 1/2 cup coriander leaves , 1 cup Thai basil leaves, 1/3 cup plain flour, 2 tsp dried chilli flakes , 200g fresh whitebait, Peanut or sunflower oil, to deep-fry, 1/4 cup fish sauce, 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 2 tbsp grated palm sugar, 1 long red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped, 2 tbsp lime juice, plus wedges to serve.

Ingredients:

  • 2 green mangoes , finely shredded 
  • 100g Asian salad leaves 
  • 1 cup mint leaves 
  • 1/2 cup Vietnamese mint leaves 
  • 1/2 cup coriander leaves 
  • 1 cup Thai basil leaves 
  • 1/3 cup plain flour 
  • 2 tsp dried chilli flakes 
  • 200g fresh whitebait 
  • Peanut or sunflower oil, to deep-fry 
  • 1/4 cup fish sauce 
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar 
  • 2 tbsp grated palm sugar 
  • 1 long red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped 
  • 2 tbsp lime juice, plus wedges to serve 

Instructions

  1. For the dressing, combine fish sauce, rice vinegar, palm sugar, chilli and lime juice in a bowl, stirring to dissolve sugar. Taste, then adjust with extra fish sauce, lime or sugar, if desired. Set aside.
  2. Combine the green mango, salad leaves and herbs in a bowl. Set aside.
  3. Combine the flour and dried chilli flakes in a shallow dish. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Half-fill a deep-fryer or large saucepan with oil, then heat to 180°C (a cube of bread will turn golden in 30 seconds when the oil is hot enough).
  4. Dust whitebait in the seasoned flour, shaking off excess, then fry, in batches, for 2-3 minutes until golden and cooked through. Drain on paper towel. Keep warm while you cook the remainder.
  5. Toss the salad with half the dressing. Divide salad among bowls, then top with whitebait and serve with lime wedges and remaining dressing, to drizzle.