- 2 tablespoons tamarind paste
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ½ cup rice wine
- ¼ cup honey, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce (nam pla; see Note)
- ½ pound seedless cucumber, scored with a channeling knife or fork and cut crosswise into thin slices with a vegetable peeler
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1 cup pea shoots, mung beans, or other sprouts
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil
- 3 to 4 whole Thai chiles or 1 tablespoon seeded, minced jalapeno pepper
- 2 tablespoons peeled, grated ginger
- 1 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
- ¼ cup shelled, unsalted peanuts, crushed or coarsely ground
- Pour 2 tablespoons hot water over the tamarind and sugar in a small bowl. Stir until the mixture comes together in a paste. Add the rice wine, honey, and fish sauce and stir well to combine. Set aside.
- Arrange the cucumber slices in an overlapping pattern around the edge of a serving platter. Arrange the tomatoes decoratively around the platter; overlapping the cucumbers where necessary. Arrange the pea shoots in a heap in the center of the platter. Set the platter aside.
- Heat the peanut oil in a large wok or saute pan over high heat. Add the chiles and heat through for 30 seconds. Add the ginger, cook for 30 seconds, then add the shrimp and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tamarind glaze and bring to a boil. Toss or stir the shrimp well to coat in the glaze. Cook just until the shrimp turn firm and pink, 1 to 2 minutes more. If using whole Thai chiles, remove them with tongs and discard.
- Spoon the shrimp over the pea shoots, scatter the peanuts over the top, and serve the salad family style from the center of the table.