TWO THAI DRESSINGS
Here are two fabulous dressings can be used solo, combined together or as the base for many of the more complex dressings and sauces on the menu at RXV Wellness Village. Super simple, made up of just 4 ingredients each, also super easy to make as you can see from the limited instructions below! Light soy sauce makes all the difference to the first dressing - I usually use tamari for everything but specially bought light soy to recreate this at home and, as a vegan alternative to the fish sauce for the Chilli Paste dressing, you can use miso paste. The Chilli Paste dressing can be kept a couple of weeks in the fridge but the Somtum dressing will need to be used within 3 days - if you want to keep it longer double the water and then cook as you do the chilli paste dressing, reducing it to half to give it a longer shelf life. I’ve used both jaggery and coconut sugar as the sweetener for both these sauces. The Somtum does take a while to dissolve fully so give yourself plenty of time to mix it before it’s needed! I love this on a quick stir fry of cabbage and cucumber, tossed with spring onion and roasted pumpkin seeds for a lightly cooked crunchy summer salad. Or, make more of a classic Somtum (that’s the famous Thai green papaya salad), by substituting green apple or kohlrabi. Honestly it’s delicious on everything and a recipe that will take pride of place in your repertoire!
Vegan Somtum Dressing
INGREDIENTS
50g coconut sugar
50g still water
50g light soy sauce
50g lime juice
METHOD
Mix all ingredients together until the sugar has dissolved
Store in the fridge where it can keep for 3 days
Chilli Paste Dressing
INGREDIENTS
25g lime juice
75g chili paste
150g fish sauce
275g palm sugar
METHOD
Mix all ingredients together then bring to a boil, simmer until reduced by half, cool down
Store in the fridge where it can keep for up to a week