Paper-thin veggies, a shower of herbs, a pile of fried crispy red curry rice, and a limey garlicky vinaigrette all over top. This crispy rice salad is all I want to eat right now!
“This was insanely delicious. Full of flavor, texture, color. The crunchy cool cucumbers complement the red curry spice perfectly. Hubs and I LOVE rice already, so had to try this dish and it was a hit!”
Let’s discuss.
- Prep Your Dressing and Herbs: Blitz up the dressing, and chop up the salad stuff. I like to use a mandoline for the cucumbers and shallots.
- Mix The Rice with Curry Paste: Mix the rice with a bit of oil and red curry paste. For the air fryer, I like to have the texture being sticky / wet enough that you can kind of squeeze it into loose chunks. If the rice is dried out / several days leftover, I will add a tablespoon or two of water and maybe even a bit of cornstarch to the mix to help it revive a bit.
- Clump Your Rice Into the Air Fryer: Yes, clump it. Just place sticky handfuls of the rice in the air fryer in a single layer. They don’t have to be balls, but you also don’t want each individual grain of rice to be separated. Just kinda clump it in there.
- Air Fry the Rice!: I do it at 420 for about 8 minutes till it’s nice and golden brown and crispy around the edges! (If you don’t have an air fryer, there are other options in the notes.) See how it kind of makes clusters? When it’s done, scoop chunks of the rice onto your salad bowl!
- Toss It Up!: Toss the veggies and rice with the dressing.
- You’re done! YUM!: Seriously. This might be my favorite salad I’ve ever made.