Thai Papaya Salad with Sous Vide Prawns

This is a classic Thai dish. To be completely authentic, this recipe would include dried shrimp, but as they’re not always to people’s taste, I’ve left them out. You can get all of these ingredients from a local grocer. The method might sound a bit repetitive, but you have to add the ingredients one by one into the pestle and mortar because some elements need more pounding than others. To shred the papaya, use a serrated peeler or the large holes of a box grater.

Author

Christina Wylie

Christina Wylie is an award-winning writer, author, editor, food stylist, recipe creator, entrepreneur and radio host whose work has been featured in The Times & The Sunday Times, Time Out (Melbourne, Sydney, Hong Kong and Dubai), Traveler’s Digest, Fah Thai Magazine, Broadsheet, Wining & Dining and many other internationally renowned publications. In 2013, after almost a decade of working as an international journalist, Christina founded the online lifestyle magazine The GAB Magazine, for which she now leads a team of 60 writers based all across Australia. She then founded Samui Life Magazine in 2016. After working as a recipe creator for Anova Culinary for over a year, she signed a cookbook contract with the American-based, international publishing company Quarto. Her cookbook, titled The Sous Vide Kitchen: Techniques, Ideas, and More Than 100 Recipes to Cook at Home, was published worldwide in 2017. She wrote, styled, and photographed everything that you see within that book. In 2017 she opened her first restaurant, Bootlegger, in Koh Samui, Thailand. She is currently in the initial stages of launching Bootlegger 2 in Phuket in 2018, and is looking to open Bootlegger 3 in Bangkok in 2019. She is currently working towards stepping into the world of food and travel presenting. As an entrepreneur herself, Christina co-founded the charity initiative Project Gen Z in 2015 to teach orphaned Cambodian children entrepreneurial skills. A British expat born and raised in Hong Kong, Christina has worked across the globe, and has lived in Thailand, London, Hong Kong, Australia and South Africa over the years.

Prep Time: 00:20

Recipe Time: 00:15

Temperature : 149F / 65C

Ingredients

• 6 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 teaspoon peanut oil, optional
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons palm sugar or packed dark brown sugar
• 1 clove garlic clove, peeled
• 6 green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch segments
• 5 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 Thai chile, trimmed
• 2 cups shredded green papaya
• 1 tablespoon peanuts, toasted

Directions

1. Set the Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker to 149ºF (65ºC).
2. Place the shrimp in a large zipper lock or vacuum seal bag with the peanut oil, if using. Seal the bag using the water immersion technique or a vacuum sealer on the moist setting. Make sure to keep the shrimp in a single layer.
3. Place the bag into the water bath and set the timer for 15 minutes.
4. While the shrimp are cooking, prepare the salad: Combine the lime juice, fish sauce, and palm sugar in a mortar and pound with a pestle to combine. Transfer to a small bowl.
5. Add the garlic to the empty mortar and pound until smooth. Add the green beans and pound until they begin to break apart, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
6. Add the tomatoes and pound until they are bruised. Add the chile and continue to pound until chile breaks into small pieces, about 30 seconds.
7. Add the papaya and gently pound until softened, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the peanuts and pound just until lightly crushed.

Finishing Steps

1. When the timer goes off, remove the bag from the water bath. Transfer the bag to an ice bath to cool.
2. When the shrimp have cooled to room temperature, remove them from the bag and add to the mortar with the salad. Add the dressing and toss to coat (do not pound). Serve.