crispy rice salad

A Lao crispy rice salad (Nam Khao) with crispy, chewy textures with a balance of sweet, tart, salty and spiciness.

Lao Crispy Rice Salad (Nam Khao)

rice

Thai red curry paste

garlic ((minced))

shallot ((minced))

kaffir lime leaves

sugar

fish sauce

water

lime ((juiced))

rice vinegar

red birdseye chili ((sliced))

som moo ((fermented meat sausage))

mint

basil

cilantro

onions

peanuts

rice powder

shallots ((sliced and soaked in cold water to remove the raw bite))

green onions ((chopped))

birdseye chili peppers

lime juice

Soak the sticky rice for a minimum of 4 hours. Drain water

In a pot, bring water to a boil and pour the rice into a colander and set on top of the pot. Put the lid on and steam for 15 mins.

After 15 minutes, turn the rice over in the colander so the other side can be steamed for 15 minutes. Steam rice until it is translucent. (Be careful, the colander is very hot!)

Remove rice from the pot, put it into a bowl and cover with a towel for 15-30 minutes until warm and sticky.

Add in the curry paste, lime leaves, garlic, shallot, sugar, fish sauce and egg and mix well.

Set deep fryer to 350F (176C), or medium heat on a pot of oil on the stove.

Create rice balls or oval patties with the rice mix. (Oil your hands so they don't stick to your hands)

Deep fry them for 3 minutes or until golden brown.

Set aside to cool.

Crispy Rice Balls

Combine the sugar and the hot water first to melt it evenly into the water.

Then add the remainder of the ingredients and put it in the fridge to cool

Nuoc Cham Dressing

Break up the rice balls and som moo and put into a bowl

Add in the toppings and dressing and mix well

Serve with lettuce leaves

Eat with a spoon or wrapped in lettuce :)

Putting the Salad Together

Paper-thin veggies, a shower of herbs, a pile of fried crispy red curry rice, and a limey garlicky vinaigrette all over top. This crispy rice salad is all I want to eat right now!

Crispy Rice Salad with Cucumbers and Herbs

garlic

avocado oil, or another neutral oil

lime juice (3-4 small limes)

brown sugar

chili crisp (more for spicier)

jasmine rice (note 2)

avocado oil

red curry paste

cornstarch (optional)

English cucumber, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)

shallot, thinly sliced or minced (about 1/4 cup)

cilantro, roughly chopped (about 1/2 cup)

mint, roughly chopped or torn (about 1/4 cup)

chili crisp

Dressing

Blitz everything up in a blender or food processor to make this SUPER yummy, punchy sauce.

Crispy Rice

Toss the rice in a bowl with the oil and curry paste. If it&#8217;s not sticking together when you squeeze it, add the cornstarch and get your hands wet to mix it again (this happens if the rice is pre-cooked or several days old). Squeeze it into loose, squishy chunks and transfer to the air fryer in a single layer. Air fry at 400 for 7-9 minutes, until golden and crisped. (See Note 3 for alternative methods &#8211; I find the air fryer to be fastest and most convenient!)

You're Done! Yum! 

Break the crispy rice apart into little golden, delightful chunks. Toss with about half of the dressing and however many veggies you want. Garnish it with some peanuts and chili crisp if you want. I mean, honestly. Wow. This is so good.

This was one of the most delicious things I’ve made in a long time! I love outside of the box salads that aren’t lettuce based. I made a couple slight changes to use what I had - sriracha instead of chili crisp, added some fresh sprouts because I love them. Wonderful!

This was insanely delicious. Full of flavor, texture, color. The crunchy cool cucumbers complement the red curry spice perfectly. Hubs and I LOVE rice already, so had to try this dish and it was a hit!

This Crispy Rice Salad is delicious and will be made again and again! It's easy, it's do-ahead-able and so tasty!!
I find so many times that Pinch of Yum has just what I need to make for dinner, thanks from my family and me!

I’m vegan and replaced the fish sauce with coconut aminos. I thought soy sauce would be too salty. The coconut aminos worked perfectly. The salad was amazing. I can’t wait to have it again for lunch today! Thanks for another delicious recipe.

Whoa. This is a stellar, hearty salad that I’m now putting in my rotation. I made my bowl with brown rice and it didn’t “clump” as well I’m sure jasmine rice would have but it was still delicious and crispy. I had a fennel bulb which I sliced thin and roasted in gochujang butter and added it to the salad along with crispy baby lettuce. The dressing is absolutely bananas. Fish sauce in abundance can put me off so I made mine with just one Tbs. It was perfect for me. Thanks for a creative and delicious salad!

I made this recipe with brown rice and added sliced radishes and pan-seared tofu. Delicious!

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/EeeNw3UE.mp4

This twist on the viral crispy rice salad takes the flavor of juicy satay chicken and turns it into a lovely, satisfying salad. Crisp up your rice, then combine with lots of lovely crunchy greens, and pour over a GORGEOUSLY creamy peanut butter dressing that you'll be wanting to drink.

Satay Crispy Rice Salad

sesame oil

chilli oil

soy sauce (GF soy sauce

chicken breasts,

edamame beans

scallions, finely sliced

cucumber, diced

sesame seeds

Thai basil, chopped

mint leaves, chopped

cilantro,

peanuts,

red chilli, finely sliced (optional)

peanut butter

soy sauce

tablespoon sweet chilli jam

Cook your rice (skip this step if you&#8217;re using leftover rice). Add 2/3 cup of rice to a small pot you have a lid for. Add 1 cup of water, then set over high heat until you see foamy bubbles on top. Pop the lid on, reduce the heat to low and cook for 12 minutes. Remove from the heat (still with the lid on), and set aside for another 10 minutes, to finish steaming. After this, fluff up the grains with a fork, then spread it onto an oven tray lined with parchment paper and pop it into the fridge to cool, for at least 10 minutes.

Make your crispy rice

Heat your oven to 400F/200C. If you&#8217;re using leftover rice, transfer it to a parchment paper lined oven tray. If you&#8217;re using your fresh rice, get the tray out of the fridge. Pour 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of chili oil over the rice, then mix it through the rice. Spread the seasoned rice into a thin, even layer (ideally one layer), then pop into the oven for 25 &#8211; 30 minutes, to crisp up. Check the rice after 15 minutes to see how it&#8217;s going &#8211; some ovens are a little uneven and you may want to rotate the tray. Check it at 20 minutes too as it can easily burn and again, all ovens are diffferent.

Mix your satay dressing. 

Add 1/2 cup of peanut butter, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 2 teaspoons of fish sauce and 1 tablespoon of sweet chili jam to a bowl, or a jar. Use a fork to mix into a thick paste. It&#8217;ll seem like it won&#8217;t come together, but just keep mixing. Slowly drizzle in 1/2 cup of water, mixing as you do, until you get a lovely creamy dressing, with the consistency of heavy cream.

Mix your salad. 

Once your rice looks lovely and golden, and crispy around the edges, remove it from the oven. Add the edamame beans, diced cucumber, chicken, cilantro, mint, Thai basil, red chili (if you&#8217;re using it), most of the peanuts, sesame seeds and scallions to a mixing bowl, or straight into a serving bowl. Pour the crispy rice on top, then pour roughly half the dressing on top. Mix well to combine. Drizzle over more of the dressing and scatter over the remaining peanuts to serve.

I absolutely love this recipe! So much lovely crunch and the hint of mint adds a refreshing touch. I prefer a sweeter peanut sauce, so I add more sweet chili sauce and a bit of sugar, but otherwise we follow this recipe precisely.

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/000sKpf9.mp4

This twist on the viral crispy rice salad takes the flavor of juicy satay chicken and turns it into a lovely, satisfying salad. Crisp up your rice, then combine with lots of lovely crunchy greens, and pour over a GORGEOUSLY creamy peanut dressing that you’ll be wanting to drink.

A taste and textural senastion, this amazing rice salad from Laos is one of the highlights of South East Asian Cuisine. Wonderful crisp and flavoursome rice creates a base for fresh herbaceous elements alongside the sour fermented sausage &#039;Nam&#039;. A triumph!

Laotian Nam Khao (Crispy Rice Salad)

Jasmine rice

tbsp Thai red curry paste

tsp ginger ((minced))

shallot ((finely chopped))

kaffir lime leaves ((very finely chopped))

tbsp fish sauce

½ tsp white pepper

tbsp corn starch ((cornflour))

Canola oil ((for deep frying))

tbsp sugar

tbsp rice vinegar

garlic ((very finely chopped))

stem cilantro ((no leaves

Thai chilli ((finely sliced))

sausage

mint ((roughly chopped))

cilantro ((roughly chopped))

Thai Basil ((holy basil) (roughly chopped))

shallots

tbsp shallots

spring onions ((scallions)(finely sliced))

Thai chilles ((finely sliced) (optional))

Lettuce leaves ((for wrapping Nam Khao) (optional))

Cooking and cooling the rice

Cook the rice until done. Remove from the heat and spread into a layer on a sheet pan (loosely covered with paper towels) to cool and dry a little. (about 2 hours)Meanwhile, prepare all the other ingredients, ready to assemble.

Seasoning the rice

When the rice is cooled, in a bowl, mix together all the other rice ball ingredients with the rice (except the oil).

Shaping the rice balls

Wet your hands in a little water and then create small balls (about 2-inches) with the rice mix. Arrange on a plate while you repeat the process to use up all the mix. Refrigerate until needed.

Frying the rice balls

In a medium saucepan or fryer heat the oil (about 3-inches for a pan) until hot (around 160ºC / 320ºF) – a cube of bread should sink then gently rice to the surface bubble when added. If the oil is too hot, remove from the heat and cool.Gently add about 5-6 balls into the oil and fry for 3-4 minutes each until crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels while you fry the rest in batches.

To make the rice balls

Combine the dressing ingredients

Combine all the ingredients (except water) then pour in the freshly boiled water and whisk. Leave to cool completely.

To make the dressing

Breaking up the rice balls

Using your hands, break up the cooled rice balls into rustic pieces into a large salad bowl.

Making the salad

Toss together the rice pieces with all the other salad ingredients. Pour over a little dressing and mix well.

Arranging the salad

Anyrecommedationsforsausagesubstitute?IwenttotwodifferentAsiangrocerystoresandcouldn’tfindit.Iwaslookingforwardtotryingit,butwillhavetomakeduewithsomethingelse.Thankyou
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Thank you for this recipe. I have made a couple of versions and found them tedious although delicious. But the flavour profile in this version is superior. The great game changer here was the realisation the other recipes  had you making the red curry paste. The use of a pre-made red curry paste saves an hour on a already slightly lengthy prep. The result is I now feel I can make this a little more often and the friends I shared this with are amazed. I told them the only way to describe this dish, as none had ever heard of it, was that it was a Party in Your Mouth. 
Thanks again. Greg

Don't get me wrong, this recipe ended up being great, however, there was extreme frustration with creating the rice balls which greatly delayed my dinner plans. Everything kept falling apart. I'm used to making arancini and sushi and this was a whole nother thing. What finally worked for me was to use a 2.5" round cutter as a mold and forcefully packing the rice. Refridgerating defintely is key and to hasten it, I put the tray in the freezer for 10 mins.

This sounds great - the shrimp sounds like a splendid idea too. You could make it without either and it would still be great. If you do manage to try it again without a pescatarian present, the nam sausage takes it to another level! Lastly, I'm sure you could use rice flour instead of cornstarch too. 

Leftovers are even better! It's uncommon for me to have any though as I'm extremely greedy. I ate this at a Lao restaurant not too long ago and showed the Lao lady my recipe. She suggested 3 times the amount of chillies, which I might try one day. Their version was pure FIRE!!

Thanks so much for your comment and glad you enjoyed so much.

I wasn't able to use the sausage as one eater is pescetarian. I served it with garlic and lime sauteed shrimp instead which went OK. I bet fried dried baby shrimp would have been really good. I really liked the Nuoc cham with the boiling water step. I think this helped to get the heat from the peppers (and garlic) incorporated into the sauce to become an underlying element. Not to mention the all-important cilantro stems! I used white sugar because I didn't have light brown, it was fine. The serving suggestion was beautiful, a big plate with fresh lettuce leaves, mint sprigs, cucumber slices, and lime wedges with a small bowl of dressing in the middle. I used red and green chilis throughout for added color. When making the balls, I was a little worried, I tried to make them golf ball sized to start but they didn't stick so well, so I used my whole hand to cup a baseball/snowball sized ball - it seemed to hold better (which is more in line with your 2" recommendation) - cooling them in the fridge also solidified them quite a bit. I wonder if glutinous rice powder instead of corn starch might help bind things more? I was able to fry the balls well enough with only about an inch to an inch in a half of canola oil - I didn't have enough for 3" - it seemed to expand once it reached temperature anyway. We had the leftovers this morning and it may have been even better (though no serving platter)! ... I think this recipe is enough for 3-4 people as a main course, or more if only an appetizer.

Amazing! Had something similar in a restaurant recently and have been wanting to make at home. It came out great, we couldn't believe it - this recipe is a real keeper :)

Hi Lee!
This is one of the tastiest meals ever! I made it at the weekend and everyone loved it. I did manage to find the sausage too at my local Asian supermarket in Chinatown (SF). it was so good, so thank you for the recipe.
Ben

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