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Cuttlefish, cucumber and ruby grapefruit salad

Cuttlefish, cucumber and ruby grapefruit salad

“My favourite place to dine in Perth is a little Thai place in north Perth called Nahm Thai. Kevin Pham, the chef, is a self-taught young Vietnamese guy who has a great understanding of the nuances of Thai food. His food is simply presented, well cooked, with nice punchy flavours. The perfect place to eat on a chef’s night off. The cuttlefish salad is sensational.”
David Coomer, Star Anise, WA

Cuttlefish, cucumber and ruby grapefruit salad

Serves 4
Cooking Time Prep time 20 mins, cook 10 mins
400 gm   cuttlefish, cleaned, tentacles discarded, scored diagonally
3   Lebanese cucumbers, cut into long thin ribbons
1   ruby grapefruit, segmented
1 cup   each of (loosely packed) coriander, mint and Thai basil
4   red shallots, thinly sliced
2   lemongrass stalks, white part only, thinly sliced widthways
2   small red chillies or to taste, thinly sliced diagonally
To serve:   fried shallots (see note)
Nahm jim
75 gm (¼ cup)   finely grated palm sugar
60 ml (¼ cup)   fish sauce
2 tbsp   freshly squeezed lime juice


1 For nahm jim, combine sugar and fish sauce in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Bring to the boil and cook until lightly caramelised and becomes a light syrup (3-5 minutes). Cool then add lime juice just before serving.
2 Heat frying pan over high heat and cook cuttlefish until just cooked through (1-2 minutes each side), then slice lengthways into 1½cm-thick strips. Combine in a bowl with remaining ingredients except fried shallots, toss to combine. Drizzle with nahm jim and serve immediately scattered with fried shallots.

Note Fried shallots are from Asian grocers.

RECIPE Kevin Pham, Nahm Thai PHOTOGRAPHY Chris Chen STYLING Geraldine Munoz


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