Spicy herbal salad (kerabu)

The dressing is spicy, sharp and smells wonderful from all of the herbs. It is a good a way to use up both raw and cooked leftover ingredients. ... Feel free to experiment with different main ingredients while keeping the powerful dressing the same! Just replace the shrimp paste with salt to make it vegan.

Ingredients

• 1 cucumber
• 200 g fresh pineapple, cut into 1cm chunks
• 150 g red onion, finely sliced
• 80 g mint leaves, roughly chopped
• 40 g laksa leaves, roughly chopped

Dressing

• 3 red chillies, finely chopped
• 3 makrut lime leaves, stems removed and leaves finely chopped
• 20 g (2 tsp) shrimp paste, dry-toasted
• 40 ml lime juice (juice of approximately 2 limes)
• 2 tbsp light brown soft sugar
• ½ tsp tamarind paste

Standing time: 15 minutes

Instructions

1. Cut the cucumbers in half straight through the middle, and then in half again lengthways. Use a spoon to deseed them, then cut into 1cm chunks.
2. Mix the cucumber, pineapple, red onion and herbs together.
3. Combine the dressing ingredients.
4. Pour the dressing over the prepared salad at least 15 minutes (but no longer than 30 minutes) before serving. Stir to combine. Season with a touch more salt to taste if necessary.

This is an edited extract from Sambal Shiok: The Malaysian Cookbook by Mandy Yin, published by Quadrille, RRP $49.99, available in stores nationally. 

The dressing is spicy, sharp and smells wonderful from all of the herbs. It is a good a way to use up both raw and cooked leftover ingredients. ... Feel free to experiment with different main ingredients while keeping the powerful dressing the same! Just replace the shrimp paste with salt to make it vegan.