Thai Watermelon Salad

It’s officially too hot outside. Higher than 90 degrees is too hot. Unless you’re sitting next to a beach or a pool and honestly, it’s still too hot.

All I want to do is eat cold things and more specifically, watermelon. Does anything else say summer better than watermelon?

It’s a nostalgic treat.

I remember using the melon baller as a kid, scooping out red mounds of fruit from the rind.

And competing in seed spitting contests while convincing the younger kids that those seeds turn into watermelons in your stomach.

And actually making myself sick by eating too much watermelon. 

I’m amped this Thai Watermelon Salad exists.

I remember eating Thai Watermelon Salad for the first time on a steamy day in Bangkok. I’d never heard of it before and was speechless when it arrived on our table.

Mounds and mounds of fresh watermelon with cold shrimp, covered in fresh herbs, peanuts, and fried shallots.

You remember fried shallots right?

I added frisee, cucumber, and radish to my Thai Watermelon Salad here. The frisee and radish bring spice and crunch to this salad, while the cucumber is refreshing and honestly just fits right in here.

Perhaps my favorite part of this dish is that it’s more of a concept than a recipe. The dressing is delicious and balanced…but if you don’t have an ingredient in the salad – who cares?

Skip it. Add something else that fits. 

The one thing that really makes this salad legit though are those fried shallots. We agreed back in Vietnam month that we would add these to all salads, right?

It’s also the prettiest thing you’ll eat all week. And pretty food tastes better, wouldn’t you agree?

 

Thai Watermelon Salad

(Start making 20 minutes before you want Thai Watermelon Salad)