Vietnamese crab and pomelo salad

Method

1. For the crispy shallots (see Make Ahead), toss the shallots with the flour, working the flour in with your hands to get a good coating. Heat the oil in a small frying pan and line a plate with plenty of kitchen paper. Once the oil starts to shimmer, drop in a piece of onion. It should sizzle enthusiastically – if it doesn’t, keep heating the oil until it does. Drop in half the shallots and fry for 1-2 minutes until lightly golden brown (if they get dark too quickly, turn down the heat). Remove with a slotted spoon onto the paper-lined plate, then repeat with the rest of the shallots. Set aside.
2. Put the red onion slices in a large mixing bowl. To make the dressing, put the fish sauce, rice vinegar and sugar in a small pan and heat gently to melt the sugar, giving it a stir now and then. It will smell very strong as it heats but don’t worry. Once the sugar has melted, take the pan off the heat and stir through the chilli, garlic and the juice of 1 lime. Pour half the mixture over the onions and leave them for 10 minutes.
3. Using a sharp serrated knife, slice the tops and bottoms off the pomelos. Sit the pomelos upright and peel them by slicing off strips of skin, cutting vertically down the side. You want to remove as much pith as possible but leave all the flesh. Once you’ve got rid of the outer pith, slice into the segments and remove them whole, getting out as much flesh as you can (it’s easiest to follow the segment lines of the fruit and cut just inside them). Roughly chop the chunks and add to the onions. Discard the centre and any pith.
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4. Stir the crabmeat, herbs and peanuts through the salad. Let everything sit together for a minute or so, then taste – it should be a perfect combination of salty, sour, sweet and hot. It may need an extra squeeze of lime juice, so add it as you see fit. Tip the salad into a serving bowl, toss through some of the crispy shallots and sprinkle the rest on top, then serve immediately.