Again, with the Pea Pods?

Yes, I know.  Objection noted, and ignored. 

So, you already read about my salad.  Well, I liked it so much, I set out to streamline it.  That’s code for losing the lettuce.  And then it hit me: why don’t I just get rid of the lettuce?  The mango, too, since I had already eaten the other one.  That left me with snap peas and Thai basil, which, if I may be honest here, was all I really wanted in the first place. 

But, I owe you the dressing recipe, and I’m pretty sure I heard the sound of a hundred gag reflexes at my mention of fish sauce in the dressing.  You were very polite not to vomit all over my comment section.  In case you don’t know, fish sauce is the essence of a thousand fermented anchovies, and, come to find out, some people don’t like anchovies.  Especially in salads.

Hear me out.

The dressing was inspired by the Elephant Walk, the local French-Cambodian restaurant that I fell hard for as a starving college student back when it occupied its mystical basement space in Union Square, Somerville.  I still have a soft spot for those flavors (lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves), which seemed so exotic and magical at the time.  Luckily, one of their restaurants is right down the street from me.  Also, they have a cookbook.  Their secret: to make liberal use of fish sauce.

I was making their famed Loc Lac, garlic- and soy-marinated cubes of beef in lime sauce (which is ridiculously easy, by the way), with sticky rice.  No fish sauce in there.  But, I needed something green and crunchy to go with it.  I peeked into their cookbook and saw a recipe for dressing.  After a little bit of streamlining, it was just the thing. 

Sprightly Pea Salad

2 handfuls sugar snap pea pods (you can destring them, but I usually don’t bother)
1 Tbsp. Thai basil, rolled up and sliced into ribbony strips
1 clove garlic, minced
½ Tbsp. lime juice
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
½ Tbsp. water
Pinch of sugar or two
Generous grind of black pepper

Toss pea pods and basil in a small bowl.  In another small bowl, whisk together lime juice, fish sauce, water, sugar, and pepper.  When sugar is dissolved, pour over peas to lightly dress.

Note: If you can’t find Thai basil, regular basil is fine or, even better, basil and mint in equal amounts.

Another note: Fish sauce can usually be found in the Asian section of your supermarket.  It comes in big bottles, like Squid brand (not made of squid) or Golden Boy (with the giant creepy baby on the front).  Just, whatever you do, don’t smell it.  No, I said DON’T smell it.  Geez.

Comments

[susanna]

Oh my gosh, the fish sauce talk is making me woozy in my current state. HOWEVER, I can attest to the fact that it is good in dressings and sauces, I have a noodle bowl thingy it works quite well in.

I'm not a fan of lettuce. Salad is always better without it. It's just so much shredded paper in the way of the treats.

[sandi @ the whistlestop cafe]

I have mint and basil in the garden, snow peas in the fridge...I'm not sure about the fish sauce~ but I will give it a try.

[Wandering Chopsticks]

Ha! I did the reverse and tossed out all the greens except for mint leaves and made a green mango salad with lots of lime and fish sauce. :P

All fish sauces are not the same. I sometimes use old school Squid brand b/c that used to be the only one available. It's a bit saltier than my preferred now Three Crabs brand.

[Heath]

You doubters, fish sauce is GOOD. (As long as you don't smell it.) And so are anchovies. How did they become a trope for "disgusting," anyway?

[Tammy]

Heath: Now that I've refreshed my memory on the definition of trope, my guess is that dead fish don't spend too much on PR. But, I'll stick up for you little fishies. As long as you don't end up on the endangered list. Then, we're through.

W.C.: Sounds great! Three Crabs, huh. I'll have to try that. Notice how the fish sauce companies go out of their way to mention any and all sea creatures besides anchovies.

Sandi: You won't be disappointed. I hope.

Susanna: Your shredded paper trope is right on. I couldn't have put it more elegantly, myself.

[Mist 1]

I love fish sauce. It smells so bad, but tastes so good.

[Elise]

The reason fish sauce (and anchovy paste) makes some dishes taste so good is that is is loaded with "umami", that elusive fifth taste (along with bitter, sweet, salty, and sour), an amino acid actually that makes everything taste more delicious. This sweat pea salad sounds fabulous.

[Tammy]

For the love of god, don't use sweat peas.

[sunny12]

I actually did avoid using fish sauce for the longest time because I smelled it before using (ugh!). However, now I love using it, especially with lime juice. The picture of the peas looks lovely by the way.