Malaysian Watermelon Salad

Bring 1 1/2 cups of seasoned rice vinegar to a boil in a saucepan and mix in the 2 pieces of crushed ginger root shallots red pepper flakes 1/4 cup of light brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir until the brown sugar and salt have dissolved and remove from heat. Place watermelon rind into a large heatproof nonreactive bowl and strain the pickling liquid through a fine mesh strainer into the watermelon rind. Stir to combine and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Place the bacon in a large deep skillet and cook over medium-high heat turning occasionally until evenly browned about 10 minutes. Drain the bacon slices on a paper towel-lined plate. Chop the bacon into pieces when cooled.

For dressing place 1/2 cup of peeled and chopped ginger garlic lime juice 1 cup of seasoned rice vinegar 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cilantro stems in a blender. Blend on high speed scraping down blender sides occasionally until the ginger and cilantro stems are pulverized and the dressing is thoroughly blended.

To assemble place about 1 cup of watermelon cubes onto a salad plate and drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of the dressing. Top with about 2 tablespoons of the pickled rind 1 to 2 tablespoons of bacon bits 1 tablespoon of cilantro leaves and about 1/2 tablespoon of chopped green onion or to taste.