Thai Long Bean and Cucumber Salad

Lately I've been venturing into Thai food, and Bon Appetit conveniently had an issue focused on it. Salad (or raw vegetables) aren't typically part of Asian cuisine, but this is one tasty exception. The crisp vegetables featured in this salad have intense flavor thanks to the dressing. I've adapted this recipe from the original by omitting the cherry tomatoes, since I don't like those.

There are some important techniques to use for this recipe, and Thai cooking in general. First, it's not enough simply to toss the ingredients together, but rather working the dressing into the ingredients. This is best accomplished by using a mortar and pestle, first to crush the dressing ingredients, and then to bruise the beans and cucumbers so they absorb the dressing. Also, when chopping the cucumber, don't aim for uniform pieces. Uneven dice add rustic appeal and "textural diversity". Try chopping straight into the mortar, too.

Ingredients

• 2 dried Thai chiles, soaked for 2 minutes in warm water, drained
• 3 small garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/4 lime, cut into 3 wedges
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar or granulated sugar
• 9 long beans (2 1/2 ounces) or green beans, trimmed, cut into 2 1/2" lengths
• 2 kirby cucumbers or 1 English hothouse cucumber, coarsely chopped into 1" pieces
• 2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons crushed roasted, unsalted peanuts

Instructions

1. Place first 4 ingredients in a clay mortar and pound with a wooden pestle until mashed into a fine paste, about 5 minutes. (Alternatively, process in a mini-processor until finely chopped.)
2. Add long beans to mortar; lightly crush with pestle to bruise. Add cucumber pieces, fish sauce, and lime juice. Mix well. (Alternatively, place beans in a resealable plastic bag and roll a rolling pin over bag to bruise them; transfer to a bowl with the cucumber, fish sauce, lime juice, and chile dressing.) Let marinate for 10 minutes.
3. Stir in peanuts and serve.

Serves 2-4. Eat lots of it.