Pomelo & green mango salad with grilled prawns

Pomelo & green mango salad with grilled prawns

My very first encounter with the pomelo was back in 1996, I was in my mid-twenties all excited about being on my secend-ever overseas trip in Vietnam. Mr K and I were in the north of the country and being driven around somewhere around Halong Bay. I remember our driver stopped for some reason. Water buffalo crossing the highway, traffic jam, I really don’t remember why.

As soon as our car stops a young local guy jumps out of nowhere offering us a funny-looking oversized grapefruit, already torn in half exposing pale pink segments of flesh. I think it was only US$1 so we bought it and continued driving. Juicy, tart, slightly sweet and sour. It was beautiful. A simple memory I’ll cherish forever.

Paddy's Market Sydney

Pink pomelo

Pomelo & green mango salad with prawns recipe

Summer in Sydney is in full swing which means the pomelo is very tasty right now and in abundance. I love eating it on it’s own or adding it to salads, such as the one I often make using shreds of green mango.
So off I go to visit my usual lady – shown above – at Paddy’s Market to pick up some ingredients. I’ve been going to her for years and I appreciate the small bonus gifts she slips into my bag … some lychees here, curry leaves there … she’s a real darling.
The salad I make doesn’t have a recipe as such as it varies every time I make it. Thanks to the Fiji Market being just near my house I also have a steady supply of betel leaves, which I often use when we have a cocktail party or entertain. You’ve got to love a food wrapper/plate you can also eat!
The only accurate quantities I’ve supplied are for the dressing. The rest can be as proportionate as you like.

pomelo & green mango salad with grilled prawns

serves 2-4

 

dressing:

  • 100 ml coconut cream
  • 1 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tsp palm sugar

prawn marinade:

  • 600 g green prawns, peeled and deveined
  • oil
  • fish sauce

the salad:

  • green mango, peeled and julienned
  • ½ pomelo, segmented and crumbled
  • ½ cup mint leaves
  • 1 cup coriander leaves
  • 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
  • good pinch of chilli flakes
  • 2 kaffir lime leaves, very finely shredded
  • toasted shredded coconut
  • fried shallots
  • thinly sliced fresh shallots
  • betel leaves

 

For the prawns, drizzle over a bit of oil and a good splodge of fish sauce. Mix well and set aside.

For the dressing combine all ingredients and mix well until the palm sugar has dissolved. Set aside.

For the salad combine all the ingredients and mix well. The trickiest part is the julienned green mango. It can be a bit tedious if you’re not trained with a knife, so just use a regular peeler and shave off long strips, then cut these lengthways with a knife. I’m pretty good with a knife but choose not to use it thanks to the wonderful julienne peeler I picked up in Krabi, Thailand many years ago. The ones I’ve bought in Australia are useless compared to this little beauty that only cost me $2.

Next heat the bbq and quickly cook the prawns while you’re plating up.

Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients and mix it through gently.

Sprinkle the salad with a final flourish of fried shallots.

If you don’t want to go all fancy like I did in the top pic, plate up your salad in a more conventional way as I also did below.

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