← Nouns Cooking · Thai

Ingredients

• 300 g cucumbers (small ones are best), cut into thick batons or shaved into strips
• 1 clove Garlic
• 3 Bird's eye chilli
• 2 tsp palm sugar or white sugar
• 1½ tbsp Fish sauce
• 1½ tbsp lime juice
• 5 Cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 snake beans, cut into 3 cm lengths (optional)
• 1 tbsp roasted peanuts (optional)

Method

1. Pound the garlic and chillies in a large mortar until roughly crushed.
2. Add the sugar and pound until it melts into the paste, then stir in the fish sauce and lime juice.
3. Add the beans and tomatoes and bruise them lightly with the pestle so they release their juices.
4. Add the cucumber and use the pestle and a spoon together to bash gently and turn everything over, just enough to bruise the cucumber without mashing it. Taste for hot, sour and salty, add peanuts if using and serve straight away.

Tips

• No big mortar? Crush the garlic and chillies, then toss everything in a bowl and squash the cucumber lightly with the back of a spoon.
• For an Isan-style kick add a splash of fermented fish sauce (pla ra); for a vegan version use light soy sauce or salt instead of fish sauce.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Hungry in Thailand Simply Suwanee