One of the preparations that make Thai cuisine so fresh and refreshing in the tropical heat is its raw vegetable salads that serve as backdrops to fish or meat. The sauce used on these salads is typically a blend of chiles, fish sauce, fresh lime juice, and herbs, with fresh cabbage as one of the side dishes. This Thai slaw is inspired by those classic recipes. Use it as a base for Thai Shrimp tacos (page 59) or for other shrimp or seafood fillings.

Ingredients

　　2 cups very thinly sliced Napa cabbage (leaves only, ribs trimmed away)

　　1 minced Thai chile

　　1/2 teaspoon unseasoned rice wine vinegar

　　1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice

　　1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

　　A few drops nam pla (Thai fish sauce), optional

　　1 tablespoon chopped Thai basil

　　1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

　　In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Use within 1 to 2 hours.

　　Tacos by Mark Miller with Benjamin Hargett and Jane Horn. Copyright © 2009 by Mark Miller with Benjamin Hargett and Jane Horn. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.Mark Miller is the acclaimed chef-founder of Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has started and owned thirteen different restaurants on three continents from 1979 to 2008. He is the author of ten books with nearly 1 million copies in print, including Tacos, The Great Chile Book, The Great Salsa Book, and Coyote Cafe. Mark currently works in International Culinary Consulting and lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.Benjamin Hargett is a travel-loving chef who has cooked in Europe, the Carribean, Mexico, and the United States, where he worked with Mark Miller at the Coyote Café for many years.