Rainbow Rice Salad

By Pailin's Kitchen · 90 min

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Simmer the red cabbage in the 2 ½ cups water for 5 minutes, then strain and keep the purple water in a mixing bowl.
2. For blue rice, add baking soda to the cabbage water a tiny pinch at a time (start with about 1/16 tsp, up to 1/8 to 1/4 tsp in total), stirring and checking the colour on a white plate; stop before it turns green. Use only stainless steel or non-stick pots, never aluminium.
3. Cook the jasmine rice in this blue water as you normally would, adding plain water if you want a paler blue.
4. Blend ¼ cup water with the shallot, garlic, lemongrass and ginger or galangal until no big chunks remain. Add the rest of the ¼ cup water only if needed.
5. Put the paste in a small pot with the fish sauce, shrimp paste, palm sugar, tamarind and torn lime leaves, and simmer gently for about 5 minutes.
6. Remove the lime leaves, then taste: it should be equally salty and sweet with a little sourness. Thin with water if it is thick once cooled; it should pour easily.
7. Grind the dried shrimp until fluffy, then dry-toast in a pan over medium heat until fragrant and slightly darkened. Cool right away. Keeps up to a week in the fridge.
8. Dry-toast the coconut in a pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until deep dark brown (not golden). Keeps up to a week in the fridge.
9. Plate the blue rice in the centre and arrange the other salad ingredients around it. Serve chilli flakes and lime wedges on the side.
10. To eat: about 1 Tbsp dressing per plate of the size shown in the video (start with ½ Tbsp if it is your first time). Squeeze over lime, add chilli flakes, and toss everything very well with the dressing.

Summarized from Pailin's Kitchen's video. Watch it for the details.

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