It was just one of those days where I had no energy to cook so, we decided to have Thai food at Golden Mile Complex along Beach Road. My real aim for going there wasn’t for the food; it was for the fresh produce and Thai/Vietnamese supermarket at the second level. I had to create an excuse for going there. If not, I wouldn’t have had a helper to help me carry my barang barang (Malay for ‘things’/’goods’). Ha!

The supermarket at Golden Mile is the only place in Singapore to get all your Thai, and Vietnamese food products. They even stock up on fresh herbs and vegetables essential to Indochinese cuisine. However, you must know what exactly you need as the service staff are all Thai and hardly speak English. It’s a great place to get lost in for a few hours as the variety is pretty astounding. Here is part of my loot…

After returning from Golden Mile Complex, I was inspired to create some Thai food the next day using some of the fresh herbs.

My husband and I have had a number of holidays both in Thailand and Vietnam and we absolutely love their cuisine. I’m particularly fond of their use of fresh herbs and their generous amounts of lime and lemongrass. Vietnamese and Thai cuisines are very complex and one needs to keep practicing to get the right balance of spice,sweet,sour and salty. But when you do get it right, it’s a symphony of flavours in your mouth that no other cuisine in the world can offer. Try this simple salad and sample a taste of Thai cuisine. Go ahead and tweak the spiciness and sourness to your taste but don’t leave them out. The glass noodles help to balance out all the strong flavours and the sweetness from the scallops is perfect with this tangy salad. You could also use fresh prawns.

Scallops with Spicy Thai Noodle Salad

Serves 2 (as main course) or 4 (as appetizer)

• 6 scallops
• 75-100 grams Thai dry/fresh rice vermicelli
• 2 lemongrass, inner white part only, finely sliced
• 1/2 large onion, sliced finely
• 1 medium carrot, peeled into thin strips
• 1 slice of pineapple/mango, chopped
• 2-4 Thai red bird’s eye chillies, deseeded (optional) ,finely sliced
• 2 tbsp Thai fish sauce/ light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 2-3 tsp grated palm sugar/brown sugar
• handful of dill,coriander,Thai basil,  roughly torn
• handful of toasted peanuts, roughly chopped

Soak rice vermicelli in hot/warm water until they rehydrate (abt 5 mins) and drain immediately. Rinse with cold water. Set aside.

For the salad dressing, mix lime juice, fish sauce, palm sugar and taste. Add more sugar if it’s very sour.

Score one side of each scallop in a criss-cross fashion, slicing almost but not quite halfway through each scallop. Heat medium/large skillet over medium-high heat. Drizzle a little olive oil to just coat the pan. Place scallops on hot pan, scored side down first. Sear, untouched, until they’re golden brown and come away easily from the skillet (about 2 mins). Flip and sear the other side.

Toss the salad dressing with the cooked noodles,carrots,fruit and 3/4 of herbs.

Scatter toasted peanuts and the rest of herbs over salad. Serve with scallops at the side. If you like it really hot, add a small dollop of sriracha sauce over each scallop. Aroi! (Thai for ‘delicious’)