The very best banana blossom salad

The best banana blossom salad sounds like a pompous title, but given the number of recipes I've tried over the years, I can safely say that it's the tastiest of them all. So why this obsession, you may ask? Why have I tried so many different recipes? Well, simply because we have lots of banana trees in the garden, and I love Thai salads and after each recipe I tried, I said to myself: "Yeah, that's not bad" or ‘yeah, it's good enough’. mais sans rien de plus.
As a result, I ended up looking for another recipe for the next flower to come. I found this recipe on Chef Bee's blog from Paste Restaurant in Bangkok..

Paste Restaurant in Bangkok

Paste is my favourite restaurant in Thailand! Well, I can almost say was, because unfortunately for me, this restaurant has just received its first Michelin star as well as the title of "best female chef in Asia 2018". All the buzz and constant publicity over the last few months has turned this very nice restaurant into a hip place where you have to book a table in advance. I can already see prices skyrocketing in the near future.
Well, she definitely deserves it, but it will all be to our detriment 😅

Chef Bee's recipes

Chef Bee takes her inspiration from old traditional Thai recipes, in particular those prepared in the royal kitchens.. She brings them up to date and prepares them using modern cooking techniques. Her obsession leads her to seek out local ingredients that are somewhat forgotten or little-known, throughout the country. The result is brilliant and very different from anything you'll find elsewhere in Thailand.
Some of her recipes are looooooong and require an endless list of ingredients. So I was surprised to find that this salad was easy to make and that I already had all the ingredients on hand ... or almost.

Magic ingredient: the dried squid

I had to go to the market to buy dried squid.So let me tell you straight away, there's no point in trying to think of a substitute, it's irreplaceable and essential to the success of this recipe. In Europe, you can buy it frozen in Asian shops.

Le dried squid is not fantastic to eat as it is. First you have to grill it for a few minutes on each side, then cut it into very thin strips. And that, my friends, is an atomic bomb. Dried squid oozes a delicious umami.
It's totally addictive!
It is quite difficult to cut with a knife, but cuts very well with scissors.

If you can't find banana flowers, you can replace them with raw white cabbage or chicory... 

How to prepare banana flower?

To prepare the banana blossom, start by removing a good layer of petals. Remove all the thickest petals.

Between the layers of petals are the fruits - the baby bananas - that we don't eat. We simply remove them.
When you get to the centre of the flower, it turns yellow and this is the part we eat as it is tender.

Cut the petals into very thin strips and soak them in a bowl of cold water with vinegar, lemon juice or tamarind juice to prevent oxidation.
When cut, banana flowers blacken very quickly.

Nam prik pao: the second magic ingredient in the recipe:

This recipe contains chilli jam also known as  » "Nam Prik Pao".« . This is one of my favourite Thai condiments. Normally, it's not very hot. My 2 favourite brands are

They're very fragrant, not too sweet and not too spicy, so we can use plenty! Both are "home-made" using organic products.
This is another essential ingredient for the success of this recipe.
Here's a link if you live in Thailand and would like to order some online: nam prik pao – LUM LUM

Ingredients for the decoration

You can find fried garlic in Asian grocery shops. You can easily prepare it yourself by cutting thin slices of garlic lengthwise from the clove and frying them in oil. You need to keep a close eye on the frying process and remove the garlic as soon as it is golden brown. If the garlic becomes too dark, it will taste bitter. Drain well on paper tissue and leave to dry and harden in a sieve.
Roasted chilli powder can also be found in Asian grocery shops. To make it yourself, roast some dried chillies in an oil-free pan or on the barbecue. Heat over high heat until crisp. Leave to cool, remove the stalks and grind to a coarse powder in a blender or mortar.

The very best banana blossom salad

a magnificent recipe from Chef Bee, a salad full of umami and crunch

Servings 2 or 3 people

Prep Time 30 minutes min

Cook Time 20 minutes min

Ingredients

• 1 big banana blossom prepared and thinly sliced
• 200 g fresh squid cleaned and sliced (or peeled raw prawns)
• 2-3 tbsp dried shrimp to get 2 tablespoons of shrimp powder
• 2-3 dried squids
• 2 tbsp of peanuts unsalted roasted

for the sauce

• 1 tsp of chilli jam nam prik pao, about 20 g
• 1 tbsp of palm sugar about 30 g
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 25 ml of lime juice
• 250 ml of coconut milk

decoration (optional)

• 13 g of fried garlic
• dried roasted chilli powder
• a few coriander and lemon-basil leaves

Instructions

Start by reducing the coconut milk

• In a small saucepan, bring the coconut milk to a boil and simmer over a medium heat until reduced by half. You should have around 100 ml of very thick coconut milk left. Set aside to cool completely.

For the salad

• Cut the banana flower finely and leave it to soak in water with acid added (see above) for 15 minutes.
  
• Grill the dried squid to bring out the flavour and cut them into thin strips. Set aside in a bowl.
  
• Grind the dried prawns in a blender to get 2 tbsp of prawn powder.
• Coarsely crush the peanuts in a mortar. It's not necessary to grind them into powder, just crush them a little.
• Quickly cook the fresh cut squid in boiling salted water. If they are cooked too long, they will become tough.

Prepare the sauce

• Mix all the ingredients of the sauce with the thick coconut milk.

To finish the banana blossom salad

• Drain the chopped banana blossom. In a bowl, mix the banana blossom with the sauce, add the peanuts, prawn powder, dried squid and fresh squid. Mix well.
  
• Arrange in a serving dish. Garnish with coriander and/or lemon-basil leaves, chilli powder and fried garlic.

Notes

Delicious as an appetiser with a nice cold beer!

Course: salad, Thai salad

Cuisine: Asian cuisine, Thai cuisine

Keyword: squid, dried squid, prawns, banana flower, coconut milk, nam prik pao

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