- Salads
- Thai
- Pork
- Quick Salads
Crispy fried pork rinds are tossed in a hot, sour, salty, and sweet salad, packed with herbs and plenty of bean sprouts.
By
J. Kenji López-Alt
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/kenji-lopez-alt-9e7ff3ba54e24328a853d774a05fd4b8.jpg "Isan-Style Spicy Thai Fried Pork Rind and Herb Salad Recipe (1)")
J. Kenji López-Alt
Culinary Consultant
Kenji is the former culinary director for Serious Eats and a current culinary consultant for the site. He is also a New York Times food columnist and the author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science.
Learn about Serious Eats'Editorial Process
Updated December 05, 2023
WRITE A REVIEW
Trending Videos
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__serious_eats__seriouseats.com__recipes__images__2015__01__20130110-chicharron-thai-salad-1-6ac65b78f4b841b6a836d07436d576fc.jpg "Isan-Style Spicy Thai Fried Pork Rind and Herb Salad Recipe (2)")
Why It Works
- A combination of both dried and fresh Thai chiles, sugar, fish sauce, and lime juice makes a dressing that is bold and delicious.
- Pounding the garlic and chiles in a mortar and pestle releases more flavors than a food processor or hand-chopping do.
- Packaged fried pork rinds absorb a ton of flavor from the dressing.
One of the greatest salads I've eaten in a lifetime of great salads was the fried pork belly salad I had atDD Restaurant, in the center of Nong Khai on the Thai-Lao border. There, the pork comes in fat slabs, crisp on the outside, meltingly tender inside, in the sweet-hot-sour-savory dressing that seems to blanket nearly everything on the menu (this is, by the way, a very good thing).
While I was busy clacking away at the keyboard at my in-laws' place in Bogotá, I started thinking about unique things I could make for dinner that they might not have much access to in Colombia, but could still be made with available ingredients. That's when my eyes drifted over to the package ofchicharrones, the fried pork rinds that are a near ubiquitous snack, as popular as potato or yuca chips.
I whipped up a quick batch of Isan-style dressing by pounding garlic and hot chiles in a mortar and pestle, then added some sugar (I used the localpanela, though any kind of raw brown sugar or palm sugar will work), lime juice, and fish sauce. To bring some brightness and other aromatic elements to the salad, I added some cleaned bean sprouts (I was surprised I found them in Bogotá!), picked mint leaves, cilantro, tomatoes, sliced red onions, and slicedcebolla larga, which, for all intents and purposes, are fat spring onions.
Pretty fantastic for a dish that comes together in all of 10 minutes. It lacks the creamy, tender centers of the fried pork rind salad I had in Nong Khai, but I really love the way the crisp pork rinds soften up slightly and absorb dressing while still maintaining a bit of crunch.
The next plan? Make this sucker at home with juicychicharrones made from actual fresh pork belly. Until then, this shortcut will do. I can't say for certain, but I'm pretty sure this was theonlychicharrón salad in Colombia that night.
January 2015
Recipe Details
Isan-Style Spicy Thai Fried Pork Rind and Herb Salad Recipe
Prep10 mins
Active10 mins
Total10 mins
Serves4to 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 small red onion, split in half from pole to pole and thinly sliced
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced on a sharp bias
- 3 medium cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons Thai red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
- 1 small green Thai chile or 1/2 small serrano chile, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar (more or less to taste)
- 1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce (more or less to taste)
- 1 tablespoon juice from 1 lime (more or less to taste)
- 1 Roma tomato, split in half and thinly sliced
- 1 cup mung bean sprouts, washed, trimmed, and dried
- 2 (1.75 ounces) packages unflavored fried pork rinds
- 1/2 cup fresh picked mint leaves
- 1/2 cup fresh picked cilantro leaves
- Lime wedges, for serving
Directions
Place onions and scallions in a bowl, cover with cold water, add 6 ice cubes, and place in refrigerator until ready to use, at least 5 minutes.
Combine garlic, pepper flakes, and Thai chiles in a mortar and pestle and pound into a fine paste. Add sugar, fish sauce, and lime juice, and pound until the sugar is dissolved. Taste dressing and add more sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, or pepper flakes to taste. It should be strongly spicy, sweet, salty, and acidic.
Combine tomatoes, bean sprouts, pork rinds, mint, cilantro, and dressing in a large bowl and toss to combine. Carefully drain onions and scallions. Add to bowl and toss to combine. Serve immediately.
Special Equipment
Mortar and pestle
Read More
- Pork Larb (Thai Salad with Pork, Herbs, Chile, and Toasted Rice Powder)
- Flæskesteg (Danish Crispy Pork Cracklings)
- Nam Prik Ong (Thai Pork-and-Tomato Chile Dip)
