SPROUT SALAD WITH SPICY PALM SUGAR DRESSING

A lovely beansprout salad.  Light, tasty and appetising salad with blanched beansprouts, crispy and crunchy anchovies/dried prawns, good with rice. If you like a tangy taste salad dressing, just add juices of 3 calamansi limes.

This dressing is savoury, sweet, aromatic from the lemongrass and garlic.  The spiciness is from the chilli padi [you can reduce the portion which is what I did].  

For this dressing recipe, it goes well when roasted together with baby potatoes.  Brown sugar can be used instead of palm sugar. You can also toss in fried salted fish.  If you find it troublesome to fry the anchovies, you can use ready fried ones from the stalls.

Ingredients

[serves 2-3]

200 gm beansprouts - tailed, washed and blanched lightly

6 cherry tomatoes - cut half

2 tbsp fried dried prawns

2 tbsp crispy fried anchovies

2 chilli padi - sliced

4 pips garlic - chopped

2 stalks lemongrass - finely sliced

some chopped coriander leaves

Dressing

50 gm palm sugar + 50 ml water

2-3 tbsp fish sauce

Juices of 3 calamansi limes [optional]

1. Dissolve palm sugar by boiling it with water, then add in fish sauce.  Boil to a syrupy consistency.  Set aside to cool.
2. Blanch beansprouts lightly, drained in a colander.
3. Toss beansprouts, tomatoes and chopped coriander in a bowl.
4. Dressing - mix well chopped garlic, lemongrass and chilli padi with palm sugar syrup in a bowl.
5. Drizzle over [3], add in fried anchovies and dried prawns.  Toss lightly and serve immediately.