One of the qualities that makes southern Thai food so embedded with rich herbal flavor is that spices, roots and herbs are often minced so they can be ingested entirely (instead of boiled to extract flavor and thrown out).
Khao yam is a fragrant rice salad where grated coconut, dry shredded shrimp and a host of herbs are the dominating ingredients.
Micro-sliced kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, pennywort and turmeric leaves are among the blend of herbs that complete khao yam. The rice salad is mixed together and dressed with a slightly sweet fish sauce.