Celebrate spring veg and rustle up irresistible Thai salads by mastering the four key flavour profiles of the country’s cuisine
ou always want to be hitting the four Ss, which are sweet, salty, sour, and spicy,” says Sebby Holmes, head chef/patron of, a Thai restaurant in north London. “If you have a balanced combination of all those things, people are going to love it.”
Spring brings with it a host of new veg and salad leaves, so you’ll want a nice, fresh dressing to match.would be just the ticket, Holmes says: “In a mortar, pound coriander root – or, if you can’t find it, some coriander stems – garlic, long red or green chillies , and a bit of salt, to make a paste.” Into that goes fish sauce , lime juice, mandarin, clementine ororange juice, and a little palm or caster sugar.
Some traditional dipping sauces can be “let out” with oil to turn them into salad dressings, Holmes says. A good bet would be to toss long red chillies and peppers in oil, add salt and roast on a barbecue or in the oven until soft. “Blitz them in a food processor with vinegar, palm sugar and soy sauce, and the residual oil from the roast peppers and chillies amalgamates to become this vibrant, glowing colour.
If you feel confident enough to dust off the barbecue, Holmes would get some tomatoes, galangal, lemongrass, long red chillies, bird’s eye chillies, banana shallots and garlic on that grill rack. “Roast all of that – with the skins on, if they have them – then, once done, peel off and discard the skins and pound the flesh into a chunky relish.” Chop up a selection of salad and fruit into bite-sized pieces, ready to dunk in the smoky relish.
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