Malaysian Watermelon Salad

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Description

Lower-calorie adaptation of the pork belly and watermelon salad recipe made famous by the Fatty Crab restaurant in New York City. Uses easily acquired ingredients. Still delicious.

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups seasoned rice vinegar
  • 2 (3 inch) pieces fresh ginger root, peeled and lightly crushed
  • 2 shallots, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
  • ¼ cup light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups watermelon rind, white part only, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 (1 pound) package thick cut bacon
  • ½ cup peeled and chopped fresh ginger root
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 4 limes, juiced
  • 1 cup seasoned rice vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 bunch cilantro, stems and leaves separated
  • 12 cups chilled seedless watermelon, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1 bunch green onions, chopped

Instructions

  1. Bring 1 1/2 cups of seasoned rice vinegar to a boil in a saucepan
  2. and mix in the 2 pieces of crushed ginger root
  3. shallots
  4. red pepper flakes
  5. 1/4 cup of light brown sugar
  6. and 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir until the brown sugar and salt have dissolved
  7. and remove from heat. Place watermelon rind into a large heatproof nonreactive bowl
  8. and strain the pickling liquid through a fine mesh strainer into the watermelon rind. Stir to combine
  9. and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
  10. Place the bacon in a large
  11. deep skillet
  12. and cook over medium-high heat
  13. turning occasionally
  14. until evenly browned
  15. about 10 minutes. Drain the bacon slices on a paper towel-lined plate. Chop the bacon into pieces when cooled.
  16. For dressing
  17. place 1/2 cup of peeled and chopped ginger
  18. garlic
  19. lime juice
  20. 1 cup of seasoned rice vinegar
  21. 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar
  22. 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  23. and cilantro stems in a blender. Blend on high speed
  24. scraping down blender sides occasionally
  25. until the ginger and cilantro stems are pulverized and the dressing is thoroughly blended.
  26. To assemble
  27. place about 1 cup of watermelon cubes onto a salad plate
  28. and drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of the dressing. Top with about 2 tablespoons of the pickled rind
  29. 1 to 2 tablespoons of bacon bits
  30. 1 tablespoon of cilantro leaves
  31. and about 1/2 tablespoon of chopped green onion
  32. or to taste.

Prep Time: 1 hr

Cook Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 2 hrs 10 mins

Servings: 8

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