Pork and Tropical Fruit Salad

Cook Time 30 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

450g cooked pork belly, cut into squares

2 tsp reserved pork cooking liquid or stock
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp palm sugar
2 stalks lemongrass, thinly sliced
2cm piece of galangal, chopped (or substitute for ginger)
3 tbsp coconut cream
50g tamarind paste
Juice of 1 lime
1 banana blossom
Juice of 1 lemon
½ bunch Thai basil
½ bunch mint
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 long red chilli, seeds removed, thinly sliced
2 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
300g green papaya, thinly sliced
2 rambutan, peeled, seeded and quartered
1 cup cooked rice
Crispy fried shallots, to garnish
Toasted coconut, to garnish
Toasted black and white sesame seeds, to garnish

This recipe requires pre-cooked or leftover pork belly.

Method

In a frypan over medium-high heat, bring to pork stock, soy sauce and fish sauce to the boil. Stir through the palm sugar and allow to melt. 

Add the white parts of the lemongrass and the galangal or ginger to a mortar and pestle and pound until combined. Add to the pan along with the coconut cream and tamarind, stir and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Stir through the lime juice then turn off the heat.

Add the lemon juice to a bowl of water. Peel the hard leaves off the banana blossom and discard, until you reach the white leaves in the centre.  Use a sharp knife to quickly shred the blossom and immediately place into the lemon water to prevent it from browning and to help remove some of the bitterness.

In a large salad bowl, add the pork belly, herbs, drained banana blossom, shallots, chilli, kaffir lime leaves, green papaya, rambutan and the finely shredded green part of the lemongrass. Pour over the caramel sauce and stir to coat. 

Place cooked rice on a serving plate and then top with the pork salad. Garnish with crispy fried shallots, toasted coconut and sesame seeds.