Thai Salad with Kohlrabi, Cilantro, and Mint
vegan
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© Courtesy of Adrian Mueller, Narayana Verlag GmbH / Unimedica Verlag Thai Salad with Kohlrabi, Cilantro, and Mint from the cookbook “Everyday Raw Express,” page 73
Ingredients (for servings, )
| For the Thai dressing | |
| 1 oz | Cashews (cashew nuts, kernels) |
| 80 ml | Sesame oil (2.6 oz) |
| 60 ml | Low-sodium soy sauce (genen shoyu) (2.4 oz) |
| 2 ⅛ oz | Canola oil |
| 60 ml | Lemon juice (2.2 oz) |
| 2 tbsp | Agave syrup (0.82 oz) |
| 2 tbsp | Tap water (mineral water, drinking) (0.40 oz) |
| 1 | Sun-dried chili pepper (0.02 oz) |
| 1 dash | Salt (0.01 oz) |
| 1 dash | Black pepper (0.00 oz) |
| For the salad | |
| 4 | Kohlrabies (49 oz) |
| 2 sprigs | Cilantro (fresh coriander) (0.16 oz) |
| 15 leaves | Spearmint (0.08 oz) |
| 3 tbsp | Cashews (cashew nuts, kernels) (0.88 oz) |
Equipment
- blender or hand-held blender / immersion blender
- grater
- citrus juicer (lemon squeezer)
Type of preparation
- chop or grind
- food preparation without heating
- soak
- blend
- squeeze
- season to taste
Preparation
For the Thai dressing
Soak the cashews for about 20 minutes.In most cases, it is recommended that you soak cashews for at least 2-3 hours. As Matthew Kenney lists 10 minutes preparation time for this recipe, we assume that 20 minutes soaking time will be long enough. Since cashews are relatively soft, they will blend well even with the shortened soaking time.
For the dressing, blend all of the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
Chili flakes are basically dried, crushed chili peppers. It is best to prepare the chili with a knife without touching the flakes because the spicy capsaicin adheres to your hands and can cause painful burning if it comes in contact with mucous membranes, for example, your eyes.
For the salad
Grate the kohlrabi, chop the cilantro and mint, and mix everything together.The author uses a small handful of both mint and cilantro. We have provided a rough estimate, which you can adjust as you like.
Drizzle the dressing generously on the salad and, if desired, season with salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Garnish with a little chopped mint and chopped cashews and serve.
This Thai salad is an ideal hors d’oeuvre on warm, summer days. The spiciness of the chili and sour taste of the lemon juice mixes well with the sweet kohlrabi.
Servings: This dish makes enough for 4–6 people, depending on whether it is used as a main meal or an appetizer.
We don’t consider soy sauce to be raw. Soybeans are generally heated during the production process since they like all other green beans contain the glycoprotein phasin, which is toxic for humans. Phasin inhibits the absorption of nutrients in the intestine, causes hemagglutination (clumping of the red blood cells), and in larger amounts can destroy the intestinal villi. Heating processes (e.g., cooking and roasting) destroy phasin, making soybeans and soybean products such as tofu, miso, and tempeh safe for human consumption. As a result, even unpasteurized soy products are not actually raw, but are instead cooked products that have been “revived” through the process of fermentation.
Cashews are seldom raw: Cashews almost always undergo a heating process even if “Raw Cashews” is listed on the label. This usually just means that the toxic cardol they contain has been deactivated by steaming instead of roasting. It is only when the process is explained in detail and controlled that we can be sure the cashews are raw.
Salt content: The high salt content is mainly a result of the soy sauce. The amount of salt listed here can be reduced by using a more moderate amount of the Thai dressing.
Spicy variation: This Thai salad tastes especially good when you use a larger amount of chili so that it is spicier.
Kohlrabi substitute: If you don’t have any kohlrabi on hand, you can instead use a root vegetable or a combination, such as beets, carrots, and jicama.
Sesame seeds: Adding sesame seeds as a garnish not only makes the dish look nice, it also gives this salad a slightly nutty taste.
Lime juice: Using lime juice instead of lemon juice makes the Thai dressing taste more authentic. Limes have a more intense flavor than lemons and generally a higher juice content.
