Khao Yum (Thai Rainbow Rice Salad)
Khao Yum, or Thai Rainbow Rice Salad, is a colourful, appetising and super fragrant dish that is often enjoyed as breakfast in Southern Thailand. While it requires a little effort, it is one of the healthiest, most rewarding dishes to make for the family, or a party!
Equipment
- Rice Cooker
- Small Heatproof bowl
- Sharp Kitchen Knife
- Chopping Board
- Fruit Peeler
- Food Tongs
- Food-grade Gloves
- Stainless basin
Ingredients
Cooking Rice
- 30 g butterfly pea flowers, organic & fresh
- 250 ml hot water, just boiled
- 3 cups Thai Jasmine rice, washed, with the water drained
- 300 ml water, to add on to the hot water, to make it sufficient to cook the rice.
- 1/2 tsp salt, to taste
Vegetable as Condiments
- 7 strands long beans, raw
- 1 mango, unripened, slightly sour
- 150 g white cabbage, shredded thinly
- 100 g purple cabbage, shredded thinly
- 12 red bird's eye chilli
- 2 torch ginger flower
- 30 g Vietnamese Basil, leaves plucked and stems discarded
Assembling a plate of Khao Yum
- 1 tbsp toasted coconut
- 2 tbsp fish floss
- 1/2 tsp bird's eye chilli, finely chopped
- 1/2 tbsp Vietnamese Basil, finely chopped
- 15 g beansprouts, raw
- 1 tbsp long beans, chopped
- 1 tbsp budu sauce, served in a little saucer
- 15 g white cabbage, finely shredded
- 15 g purple cabbage, finely shredded
- 15 g mango, thin strips
- 15 g torch ginger flower, finely shredded
- 1 hard boiled egg, optional
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients.
- Add the butterfly pea flowers into a heat-resistant bowl. Pour hot water and submerge the flowers and give a gentle stir. Set it aside for 10 minutes.
- Add the rice to the detachable rice pot, or basin. Add water to the rice while gently agitating them. Drain the water. Fill the rice pot with water once and drain it again. If using a basin, transfer the rice into the rice pot. Set it aside.
- After 10 minutes, stir the flowers in the hot water, gently pressing them to extract more natural colouring. Remove the flowers from the bowl and discard them.
- Pour the flower water into the rice pot, over a strainer to remove any debris, and add additional water until there is sufficient to cook the rice. Cover the lid and cook the rice.
- Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Remove the tips of the long beans on both ends, and cut them into three sections. Align the ends on one side and slice them thinly. When done, set the aside.
- Next, peel the mango with a peeler. Then, with one hand holding up the mango and the other holding the knife, carefully chop the mango, while rotating it. When the incisions have been made all around the mango, guide the knife with the index finger, and carefully slice the strips off the mango. Repeat until you are left with the seed. Discard the seed and set the mango strips aside.
- Slice the white cabbage into thin strips, as though making shredded cabbage. Then, cut the strips into 3 parts to make them shorter. Set them aside. Repeat with the purple cabbage.
- Check on the rice. Once it is cooked, open the cover and gently stir the top to fluff up the rice. Cover the pot and set it to keep warm.
- Then, remove the stalks from the chillies. Chop them finely and set them aside.
- Slice the torch ginger flowers thinly, stopping at the part of the stem that is fibrous. Discard the stems. Then, cut the flower strips into 3 to make them shorter. Set them aside.
- Lastly, pluck the Vietnamese basil leaves from their stems. Discard both the stems and yellow leaves. Roll the leaves and slice them thinly. Set them aside.
- To assemble the Khao Yum, stir the blue rice a little. Gently pack the fluffy rice into a small bowl. Then place it upside down onto the dinner plate, tapping the bowl a few times to release the rice. Add each of the ingredients around the plate, according to the measurements, increasing or decreasing the amount according to preferences. For the Budu sauce, serve about 1 tbsp in a small saucer. Serve with all of the prepared vegetables and condiments. Optionally, serve with a hard-boiled egg per serving.
- To eat, pour about half of the Budu sauce all over the rice and vegetables. If serving with an egg, cut it up into pieces with a spoon. Then, mix them until well combined, or until they resemble a colourful salad, and enjoy. Add more Budu sauce or any other condiment, according to taste.
Notes
Tips
- The most important ingredients of the Khao Yum are the Budu sauce for Khao Yum (or Nasi Kerabu), fish floss, toasted ground coconuts, a sour ingredient (unripened mango, sour pomelo or some cut limes to squeeze the juice), and torch ginger flower.
- While the butterfly pea flower is necessary for the Khao Yum's signature brilliant blue colour, when eating in private, it is ok to omit it if it is unavailable, as it does not impart any fragrance or taste to the rice.
- For the reason above, a little salt is added to make the rice a little more tastier.
When plucked fresh, it is not recommended to wash the flowers as that might cause a good amount of the colouring to be removed. Instead, steep it in hot water, and strain the water while adding it to the rice. - Use Thai Jasmine rice for added fluffiness and a wonderful fragrance to the blue rice.
- As the vegetables are eaten raw and are added for both the colourful appearance and crunchiness, the more fibrous vegetables should be sliced very thinly. These include long beans, cabbages, and torch ginger flower.
- Be sure to cut the raw, fibrous vegetables into bite-sized pieces too, so they fit the spoon and mix easily with the rest of the ingredients.
- I recommend wearing food-grade gloves when handling the red bird's eyes chilli, to prevent staining your hands with capsaicin, with can irritate the hands and the other areas that it touches.
- The main difference between Khao Yum and Nasi Kerabu is, Khao Yum is often served with fish floss and a sour ingredient, while Nasi Kerabu is served with crunchy fish crackers, fried fish or chicken, and a spicy sambal belacan.
- Note: the nutritional values includes the plate of rice and 1 hard-boiled egg.
- Make sure to watch the video to see exactly how I made it!
Nutrition
Calories: 480kcalCarbohydrates: 70gProtein: 20gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 10gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 10gCholesterol: 220mgSodium: 340mgPotassium: 1160mgFiber: 10gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 340IUVitamin C: 450mgCalcium: 130mgIron: 30mg
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