Disease Preventing Lemongrass Salad with Raw Shrimp

Immune Booster

Disease Preventing Lemongrass Salad with Raw Shrimp

Story

From the basis of the original taste of Thai food with intense flavor or ‘Zab’ in a casual language is popular with most Thai people. Spicy salad or Yum, therefore, responds to those who like intense flavored food. Nowadays, there are restaurants and stalls specializing in this dish popping up on every street corner and spicy salad is more accessible than it’s ever been. There are countless variations on the dish and people usually utilize locally-available vegetables and fruits like pomelo and mango or even dried mullet fish to flavor the dish as well as perennial favorites like raw shrimp, flower crab and vermicelli. It’s safe to say that spicy salad is one of Thai cuisine’s most versatile dishes and one that can be adapted to suit all tastes.

The word “yum” however, doesn’t automatically imply spiciness, and it’s essentially a cooking method which entails tossing ingredients and seasonings together. It’s believed that in the past, the taste of this dish was much milder than the version Thais know and love nowadays. The first mention of a dish of this ilk was “Yum Twai” a royal dish popular in the reign of King Rama V, which was made from various vegetables mixed with meat and seasoned to have salty, sweet and sour flavors with mild heat from chili paste. Coconut milk was added to make the dish creamier and it was topped with crispy shallots. This original version of the dish was obviously different from the “yum” you can buy today as its focus was on mild creaminess rather than spice or intense flavors.

Health Benefits

‘Disease Preventing Lemongrass Salad with Raw Shrimp’ can help prevent Covid 19
This hot Thai dish is full of herbs, along with perfectly cooked shrimps and a spicy salad dressing. The herb that really makes the dish completes is lemongrass, which is unmistakably fragrant and brings out the taste of the shrimp.

‘Lemongrass’ helps make the body’s work processes more efficient, resulting in good health with an immuned and rejuvenated body.
‘Bird’s eye chili is high in capsaicin which helps soothe cold symptoms, runny nose and phlegm.*
‘Mint’ has the effect of killing germs, thereby helping prevent illnesses caused by viruses and bacteria. It also has sweating properties thus helping recover from the flu faster.
‘Lemon’ reduces the risk of respiratory tract infections, shortens the duration of colds, as well as helping reduce inflammation and repair cells damaged by infection.
‘Shrimp contains protein which helps boost the body’s immunity functions.**

Ingredients

lemongrass 50 gr
tiger or white prawn 90 gr
bird’s eye chili 5 gr
shallot 10 gr
mint 2 gr
kaffir lime leaf 1 gr
fish sauce 20 gr
palm sugar 40 gr
lime juice 20 gr
coriander leaf 2 gr
spicy lime dressing 50 gr

Directions

Blanch the shrimps.

Add all the herbs and combine them thoroughly.

Create the salad dressing by combining chili, lime, fish sauce and palm sugar.

Add the shrimps and toss all the ingredients together to mix.

Serve.

Reference
*Food-navigator.com. Fight COVID-19 with dairy? China industry associations issue consumption guidelines to build immune resistance.
– Turkish Dietetic Association. Turkish Dietetic Association’s Recommendations on Nutrition and COVID-19
**vonne D., Ofelia G., Guillermo O., José P., & Tzayhrí G. (2014). Determination of Capsaicin, Ascorbic Acid, Total Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Capsicum annuum L. var. serrano by Mid Infrared Spectroscopy (Mid-FTIR) and Chemometric Analysis. Journal of the Korean Society for Applied Biological Chemistry, 57(1): 133-142.