Balancing act of tastes, textures

The tiger's tears salad served at Myers + Chang features fresh herbs, grilled beef, and bell peppers tossed with a spicy dressing. (Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff/file 2007)

Every once in a while you get to eat a dish that makes you sit up and take notice. It's usually because the flavors are bold or the combination of ingredients is unexpected.

One that qualifies on both counts is the salad called tiger's tears. At Myers + Chang, the bowl is filled with abundant fresh herbs, sliced grilled beef, colorful bell peppers, and tossed with a spicy dressing. At first, the sharpness of the flavors is jarring. After a few bites, the heat becomes comfortable as it's cooled by refreshing mint and Thai basil leaves. Later, at home, you'll find yourself wondering how it's made and whether you can pluck herbs from your own backyard or window box. But there's still the question of where the extra crunch comes from and what makes the dressing so fiery.

Joanne Chang, chef and co-owner of the casual Pan-Asian spot in the South End, explains that neither she nor executive chef Alison Hearn invented the dish - it's on many Asian menus - but each brought elements to the restaurant's striking version. For years, Chang has made a spicy, lime-flavored herb salad with seared beef, which was inspired by a recipe from the 2000 cookbook "Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia" by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. "It's easy, really fresh, and bright tasting," says Chang.

Hearn first tasted a tiger's tears salad at Floating Rock in Revere. The dish is believed to be Cambodian, although there are similarly flavored beef, herb, and vegetable salads in neighboring Laos and Thailand. At Floating Rock, a small spot not far from Revere Beach, owner Vanna Sok says the dish was on the previous owner's menu when he bought the place about three years ago. Sok, a native of Cambodia, was too young to remember eating the dish in his homeland.

At both restaurants, the salad is dressed with nuoc cham, the classic Vietnamese condiment balancing sour (lime juice), sweet (granulated sugar), pungent-salty (fish sauce), and spicy-hot (Thai bird chilies). "It's a very common sauce that can vary regionally," says Hearn, who traveled throughout Southeast Asia before opening Myers + Chang with owners Chang and restaurateur Christopher Myers. The chef also likes sprinkling the dressing on fresh oysters and grilled swordfish.

Now, for the finishing touch: the appealing crunch. It's an ingredient called khao koor, or roasted rice powder. It's easy to make: Uncooked Thai sticky rice is toasted and then ground to a grainy powder.

As to the dish's charming name, the salad is said to be so spicy it can make a tiger cry. While this has been impossible to verify, it's easy to see how the moniker stuck. If it's not a tiger tearing from the heat, it may very well be you or your dining companion.

Myers + Chang, 1145 Washington St., Boston, 617-542-5200; Floating Rock, 144 Shirley Ave., Revere, 781-286-2554.