Thai Rice Salad

For the Rice:

• 1 cup jasmine rice (washed)
• 2 tsp butterfly pea flower tea 
• Optional: water from boiled red cabbage + pinch of baking soda (as a colour alternative)

For the Dressing (Nam Budu):

• 2 Thai shallots, peeled
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 stalk lemongrass (outer layer removed, finely chopped)
• 1 tsp neutral oil
• 2 tbsp fermented fish sauce (budu)
• 1 tbsp palm sugar
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste

For the Salad:

• 1 small carrot, julienned
• A few long beans (or green beans), finely sliced
• Red cabbage, finely shredded
• 1 grapefruit or pomelo, segmented
• 1–2 green bird's eye chilies, finely chopped (optional)
• 1 stalk lemongrass, thinly sliced
• Handful of toasted desiccated coconut
• 2 tbsp dried fermented shrimp
• Salt, to taste

PREPARATION

Prepare the Blue Rice

Steep dried butterfly pea flowers in boiling water for 5–10 mins until deep blue. (Use a reusable teabag for easy removal!)

Let the coloured water cool slightly. Pour over washed jasmine rice. The water line should be about a fingernail’s width above the rice.

Cook as normal: bring to boil, simmer for 10 mins, then rest off the heat (lid on) for 10 mins.

TIP: No butterfly pea flower? Boil red cabbage, add a pinch of baking soda to the purple water, and voilà – blue!

COOKING

Toast the Garnishes

Dry-fry dried fermented shrimp in a hot pan until even drier. Pound into a floss using a pestle & mortar.

Dry-fry desiccated coconut until golden brown. Stir constantly and watch carefully – burnt coconut is no good!

Make the Dressing

Bash and finely chop garlic, shallots, and lemongrass.

Pound into a rough paste using a pestle & mortar.

Heat a little oil in a pan and fry the paste for 1–2 mins to release the aromatics.

Add fermented fish sauce, palm sugar, and tamarind paste. Simmer for 5–10 mins until slightly thickened.

FLAVOUR CHECK: You want salty, sweet and sour – adjust to taste.

Assemble the Salad

Start with a mound of cooled blue rice in the centre of your plate.

Arrange each salad component around the rice in neat, separate piles – red cabbage, carrot, beans, grapefruit, lemongrass, chilies.

Top with toasted coconut and shrimp floss.

Enjoy!