Happy Friday folks! What a glorious day out, truly perfect warm Springy weather and definitely ideal for sitting outside and eating or sipping on a nice light wine. Sitting outside is certainly what I did this evening at a fantastic neighborhood Malaysian resto. I got to thinking, why not play off one of my favorite Malaysian and Thai dishes - green papaya or in the case or green mango salad. A simple refreshing salad that we will deconstruct for tonight's GCF -- an east meets west mixup.
Let's get going:
I like to use thick slices of Grandaisy's Pullman bread for this sandwich. Unfortunately, I am not aware of any Malaysian or Thai cheeses that are imported here to the US, cheese is not big in Asian culture. For this sandwich you want a semi-soft, somewhat sweet, definitely not a washed rind cheese. I'd like to suggest Queso de la Serena, a raw sheep's milk cheese from the Extremadura region of Spain. Made in somewhat of an alternative manner being coagulated with cardoon thistle as opposed to animal rennet. The thistle will impart a lovely vegetal, barnyardy sort of feel to the cheese. Easily spreadable and meltable, this is our ideal choice for tonight's GCF. Next off, julienne some cucumber and radish and chop up some unripe or green papaya. Add to this some bean sprouts and a thinnly chopped chile. Combine all of this with some chopped peanuts and lime juice, shrimp paste, soy sauce, a small drizzle of honey, olive oil and fish sauce. Mix together. Place some of this salad on top of your cheese then top with some cilantro. Heat away! What you will get is a spicy fresh salad mixed with the gooey, vegetal sweetness of the cheese all complemented with the bread. I recommend either a nice bright Gruner to pair with this GCF or even a glass of Sake or a beer.
Enjoy!
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