“Pok pok” is the sound a pestle makes as it strikes herbs and chiles in a mortar. That’s the technique from the Isan cuisine of northern Thailand used to create the flavors of Tum Pok Pok’s Thai corn salad with shrimp, also known as som tum kao-pote, or tum khao pod.
At first glance, the dish appears to be a celebration of summer’s seasonal bounty, but the colorful mix of fresh corn, hunks of bright tomato and vibrant, trimmed green beans — topped with plump shrimp — is anything but a simple vegetable salad.
The crunchy, fiery salad bursts with savory spice in each bite. Tender, juicy kernels of corn pop, beans snap with subtle chile heat, while the plump tomatoes and snappy shrimp make great vehicles for the tangy fish sauce, melded with the zing of lime and a balance of toasted crushed peanuts.
The salad is light, but filling. The experience changes, depending on what you spear with your fork. You also might want to order a bag of sticky rice to tame the heat — and to sop up all the magical sauce.
Tum Pok Pok. 5000 Buford Highway NE, Chamblee. 404-990-4688, tumpokpok.com
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