Vietnamese Pomelo Salad with Cannabis
Southeast Asian cooking is all about balance, with many dishes showcasing a range of flavours at once – sweet, salty, sour, spicy, bitter and umami, together in harmony.
Here we honour that tradition with a cannabis-infused twist on a classic Vietnamese salad, pairing the bittersweet tang of pomelo with spicy chilis and a salty-sweet seasoning of fish sauce, cannabis-infused honey and spicy chilis. A perfect side for your next BBQ, you can make this salad a full meal by topping it with grilled chicken or shrimp.
For added depth of flavour, choose a strain high in the terpene myrcene to infuse your honey (an easy feat, since myrcene is the most abundant cannabis terpene, and dominant in many strains). Myrcene is also found in sweet basil, a flavour that complements this dish.
Recipe by Chef Ronnie Fishman, words by Devon Scoble.
Ingredients
2 tbsp cannabis-infused honey
2 red or green Thai chilis, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
¼ cup fresh lime juice
3 tbsp fish sauce
Kosher salt, to taste
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
Vegetable oil/ grape seed oil for sautéeing
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 pomelos or 3 ruby red grapefruit
1 medium carrot, julienned
¾ cup torn cilantro leaves with tender stems
¼ cup torn Thai basil or mint leaves
¼ cup roasted unsalted peanuts
2 tablespoons dried shrimp, whole or chopped (according to preference)
Method
Whisk the cannabis-infused honey, chilis, garlic, lime juice and fish sauce in a small bowl; season with salt. Balance with additional honey (non-infused) or palmsugar, lime juice or fish sauce if needed.
Toast coconut in a dry small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl.
Heat oil in the same saucepan on medium heat. Add shallots and sauté until golden and slightly soft, about 3 minutes. Transfer to paper towels with a slotted spoon to drain; season with salt.
Remove peel and white pith from pomelos. Tear membrane off and pull segments into large pieces, transferring to a large bowl as you go. Add shallots, carrots, cilantro, mint and half of dressing; toss to coat. Add coconut, peanuts and dried shrimp; toss again.
Divide among plates, drizzle with remaining dressing, and top with additional mint or cilantro if you like.
