The Sausage Dog

I made this salad when Ben’s family came to visit – it was light and refreshing, but boy, there is a lot of prep-work involved here! Julienning the vegetables will take you a while, so I would advise conscripting some minions to assist.

The sauce is pretty punchy on its own, don’t panic, just wait till you mix it all together, it’ll work itself out.

We had a little bit leftover, which I thought would be great for lunch, but unfortunately, this salad does not hold up well as a leftover. It’s such a shame, because I would be very happy to have this salad for lunch everyday!

Still a lovely meal for about 6 people, have it on a hot summer’s day with some white wine, and you are all set. Also don’t be afraid to make and then add more sauce, it’ll just be more delicious!

Serves: 6 people

Prep-time: 1.5 hours

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1kg prawns, peeled and deveined

1 tsp minced ginger paste

1 tsp minced garlic paste

2 cucumber, cut into thin batons

2 carrots, cut into thin batons

2 long red chillies, de-seeded and cut on the diagonal, thin long strips

2 mangoes, large dice

2 x 250g packets vermicelli rice noodles

1 bunch coriander, rough chop

1 bunch mint, rough chop

60ml Sweet chilli sauce

2 limes, juiced

60ml Fish sauce

10ml sesame oil

Oil for frying prawns

Instructions

1. In a bowl, marinade prawns with minced ginger and garlic pastes and 20ml fish sauce for 15 minutes.
2. Place vermicelli noodles in boiling water and let soak for 10 minutes, rinse and cool.
3. In a large bowl, place prepared cucumber, carrots, chillies, mangoes, vermicelli noodles, coriander and mint.
4. Mix the lime juice, sweet chilli sauce, 40ml fish sauce and sesame oil and give a good stir. Taste and tweak as needed. The sauce will taste a bit strong, but once mixed in with the salad, it will be fine.
5. Pour sauce over salad and mix well.
6. Place salad on large serving plate.
7. Pan fry prawns in oil making sure not to overcook them.
8. Arrange prawns over the top of the salad.
9. The dish is ready to be served.