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Spicy herbal Malaysian salad

A white plate piled high with cucumber and red onion salad, with a meat cleaver in the background

Spicy herbal Malaysian salad

Name: Spicy herbal Malaysian salad
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Malaysian
Ingredients: 1 cucumber; 200g fresh pineapple cut into 1cm chunks; 150g red onions finely sliced; 80g mint leaves roughly chopped; 40g laksa leaves roughly chopped; 3 red chillies finely chopped; 3 makrut lime leaves stems removed and leaves finely chopped; 20g shrimp paste dry-toasted in a pan; 40ml lime juice (about 2 limes); 2 tbsp soft light brown sugar; ½ tsp tamarind paste

Mandy Yin

Published: November 4, 2021 at 2:23 PM

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Serves 4

Easy

Total time: 30 mins

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This vibrant salad of vegetables, pineapple and herbs is dressed with a fiery sambal, shrimp paste and lime to bring everything together

Gluten free

Skip to ingredients

Alternatives

Complete the dish

Try this spicy herbal salad, then check out our spicy tomato salad, herb and chilli calamari, sea bream ceviche and more starter recipes. For another Malaysian dish, try our Hainan chicken rice.

This spicy herbal salad recipe is adapted from Sambal Shiok: The Malaysian Cookbook by Mandy Yin (£25, Quadrille). Mandy says: “Kerabu is an umbrella term in Malay denoting a vibrant salad of vegetables and herbs, dressed with a fiery sambal, shrimp paste and lime to bring everything together. The dressing is spicy, sharp and smells wonderful from all the herbs.

It is a good a way to use up both raw and cooked left-over ingredients. Feel free to experiment with different ingredients while keeping the powerful dressing the same. Just replace the shrimp paste with salt to make it vegan.”

For more information on this vibrant cuisine, read our guide to Malaysian food.

Ingredients

Nutrition

1 cucumber
200g fresh pineapple

cut into 1cm chunks
150g red onions

finely sliced
80g mint leaves

roughly chopped
40g laksa leaves

roughly chopped

DRESSING

3 red chillies

finely chopped
3 makrut lime leaves

stems removed and leaves finely chopped
20g shrimp paste

dry-toasted in a pan
40ml lime juice

(about 2 limes)
2 tbsp soft light brown sugar
½ tsp tamarind paste

Nutrition: per serving

kcal122

low
fat1g
carbs23.7g
sugars20.9g
fibre2.4g
protein3.2g
salt0.3g

Method

step 1

Cut the cucumbers in half straight through the middle, and then in half again lengthways. Use a teaspoon to deseed them, then cut into 1cm chunks.
step 2

Mix together the cucumber, pineapple, red onions and herbs.
step 3

Combine the dressing ingredients. Pour the dressing over the prepared salad at least 15 minutes (but no longer than 30 minutes) before serving. Stir to combine. Season with a touch more salt to taste, if you like.

This spicy herbal salad recipe is adapted from Sambal Shiok: The Malaysian Cookbook by Mandy Yin (£25, Quadrille). Photographs by Louise Hagger.

Try more zingy pineapple recipes

Authors

Mandy Yin

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