Thai Pork Salad With Chilies and Mint

Con Poulos

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Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 25m | Total Time: 25m

Ingredients

2 teaspoons canola oil
1 pound ground pork
5 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
3 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 to 2 jalapeño or serrano chili peppers, seeded if desired and thinly sliced
2 small heads Boston lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces (about 8 cups)
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, coarsely grated
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup salted, roasted peanuts, chopped

Directions

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, until no longer pink, 2 to 3 minutes. Add ¼ cup water, 1 tablespoon of the fish sauce, and 1 teaspoon of the sugar and cook, stirring, until the liquid is almost evaporated, 2 to 4 minutes more.
In a small bowl, stir together the lime juice, jalapeño peppers, and the remaining 4 tablespoons of fish sauce and 2 teaspoons of sugar.
Divide the lettuce among bowls, top with the pork mixture, shallot, carrots, mint, and peanuts, and drizzle with the lime dressing.

By Dawn Perry, August 2011

See Nutritional Information for this recipe »

Nutritional Information

Per Serving
Calories 434

Fat 31g
Sat Fat 10g
Cholesterol 82mg
Sodium 1,902mg
Protein 25g
Carbohydrate 16g
Sugar 8g
Fiber 3g
Iron 3mg
Calcium 90mg

What does this mean? See Nutrition 101.

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Quick Tip

In spite of its name, fish sauce doesn’t add a fishy taste to food. Rather, it enriches dressings, dips, marinades, and soups with a deep, savory flavor chefs call “umami.” Popular in Southeast Asian cooking, the condiment—usually made from fermented anchovies, salt, and water—is labeled “nuoc mam” on bottles from Vietnam and “nam pla” on bottles from Thailand. You can often find both in the international aisle of the supermarket.