Salads

Thai salads are not about leaves. A yam, larb or tam is a balance of sour, salty, hot and a little sweet, poured over grilled meat, seafood, fruit or crunchy vegetables and finished with handfuls of herbs.

The salads here come mostly from Isaan in the northeast, where they are the centre of the meal. Som tam pounds green papaya with chilli, lime and fish sauce in a clay mortar; larb and nam tok dress warm minced or grilled meat with lime, roasted chilli and toasted rice powder, then fold in mint, shallots and coriander.

Each recipe explains how to balance the dressing before it meets the main ingredient, how hot to make it, and what to serve alongside: sticky rice, raw cabbage, long beans and cucumber to cool the heat between bites.

The single most useful technique in this collection is khao khua, toasted ground rice, which gives larb and nam tok their nutty smell and soaks up the dressing. Make a jar of it once and it lasts for weeks. If you are cooking for people who are wary of chilli, make the dressing mild and put roasted chilli flakes on the table so everyone can add their own.