Shrimp Salad with Ginger and Mint

Refreshing Cold Shrimp Salad 

Barbara asked me to look through the William-Sonoma cookbook "Soups, Salads and Starters" to see if there was anything that I might like to make.  This Thai Shrimp Salad with Ginger and Mint caught my eye.  The ingredients looked inviting, and most importantly it could be made mostly ahead of time, and then putting it into the refrigerator allowing the flavors to marry.

The "ahead of time" part took about 30 minutes to prepare.  The "put it all together to eat" part was simply plating some salad greens and spooning the refrigerated portion on top.

This was a pretty easy salad to make.  Refreshing on a hot summer's day, and had some nice Thai flavorings.  I will make this again!

         ---Tom

Thai Shrimp Salad with Ginger and Mint
(from Williams-Sonoma Soups, Salads, and Starters cookbook)

Serves 4


The Ahead of Time Ingredients:
1/2 cup fish stock
1 - 1 1/2 # peeled deveined shrimp, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped lemon grass
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 fresh jalapeno seeded and finely chopped
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1//2 small thinly sliced red onion (I chose not to use this)
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

The Plating Ingredients:
1/2 English cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/4" halves or quarters
Salad greens of your choice, I chose fresh baby spinach


The first step is to cook the shrimp in the fish stock. 

In a covered skillet get the fish stock boiling.  Then add the shrimp.  Cook it for a minute or two covered, if fresh, a little longer if frozen.  Either will work.  Then flip them over and continue cooking covered until pink.  Remove the shrimp with a slotted spoon into a small bowl.  Cool the shrimp in the refrigerator.  Discard the remaining fish stock.

Here I am slicing up the fresh mint.  Not very exciting.

Whisk together all of the ingredients in the "ahead of time" ingredient list, including the cooked and cooled shrimp (not shown in this picture).  Cover the mixture and put into the refrigerator for a couple of hours. 

As you can discern in the picture, I added the cucumber early .  I think it made our final mixture a little too watery by marinating with all of the other ingredients.  That is why I am recommending adding the cucumber to the refrigerated mixture during the plating step.

Plate with salad greens of your choice, I used baby spinach which worked very well.  Spoon over the refrigerated mixture which now contains the cucumbers.

This salad is large enough for a whole meal or could be used as a side with another entrée.