I am so lucky to have actually found a pomelo in Mexico. And whenever I see one there is only one thing that comes to mind, a Thai beef pomelo salad. 

I am absolutely addicted to citrus. This for sure is going to sound strange and my friends with all their hearts agree that it is in fact strange, but I even go so far as to cut up lemons and limes and eat them whole. Did your mouth just water thinking about eating a lime just from me saying that? 

The best “snack” I have discovered actually is peeled limes with chamoy, velentino hot sauce and tajin. Now my mouth is just watering thinking of that. But we are here to talk about this delicious Thai salad not my strange Mexican snack cravings. But side note if you too are a citrus nut like me I highly recommend giving that a try

A question you undoubtably get asked a lot as a chef is “What is your favourite dish?” Do you know how hard of a question that is to answer. My answer is always a blank expression on my face while my mind races through all of the dishes I love and thinking how could I possible choose. I am still trying to find the answer because a fresh homemade pasta, I mean what could be better. But then I’m like wait what about Pho, I couldn’t imagine a world without it. And then I think about all the Thai salads and the spiciness and wonderfulness of them. 

I am actually seeing a common theme here. Perhaps its noodles in every form and cuisine

So I think my answer would have to be broken down into types of cuisines. I can’t pick just one. And for me when it comes to Thai food the salads are the star. Not only are they probably some of the spiciest things on the menu which I know is hard to believe (I learnt my lesson the VERY VERY hard) but for me some of the best more flavourful dishes

When you think about a salad in North America what comes to mind, garden salad, ceaser salad, potato salad. Nothing wrong with them there is no doubt I enjoy that but lets talk about the magic that is Thai Salads

Green Papaya Salad
Glass Noodle Salad (Yum Woon Sen) *Can be insanely spicy trust
Larb (A Spicy minced-meat salad)
Thai Beef Salad
Pomelo Salad
Phla Kung (Thai Prawn Salad)

You may or may not have noticed absolutely none of these salads contain lettuce. It always amazes me that other countries make fun of North America for considering potato salad or coleslaw an actual salad (mostly heard on cooking shows) when in reality the rest of the world is calling things like pork blood, minced pork and herbs a salad. Delicious by the way

Mostly all Thai salads can be grouped into 4 categories:
Yam
Tam
Lamb
Pla

This salad would be considered a Pla. This is because traditionally this would be made with rare meat and then the acidic dressing from the lime and fish sauce would cook it just like you would a ceviche. When making this salad for myself I will just lightly sear the meat on both sides, let it rest then slice it up where it is almost raw and then let the dressing slightly cook it. Although this is the traditional way, you of course do not need to make it this way and cook the steak however you would like. Just remember that the acidity from the lime juice is going to keep cooking the steak so I would recommend cooking it under what you normally would

And alternatively you don’t even need the meat in this salad at all it is equally delicious by itself

If you are curious about this salad but can’t find Pomelo which most of the time is not easily found (Try local asian markets) then you can substitute grapefruit but it will be more acidic as pomelo is on the sweet side.

As always I hope you enjoy this recipe and hope that you make it soon!!