MANILA, Philippines ? After the celebration of the Chinese New Year last February, now comes the Thai New Year.

Called Songkran, which means ?to move on,? The Thai New Year marks the beginning of the solar year for the Thais, who observe a slightly different calendar (for them, it?s not the year 2009, it?s 2552, since they count the years from the time of Buddha).

Last Monday, the Dusit Thani Hotel hosted the celebration of Songkran in partnership with Thai Airways, the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Royal Thai Embassy.

A ritual during Songkran is the splashing of water to wash away bad luck. At the lobby, guests watched as ladies in colorful attire poured fragrant water over the hands of Thai Ambassador Kulkumut Singhara Na Ayudhya and Dusit GM Prateek Kumar.

The ritual is also a way of paying respect to the older generation and asking for their blessings. Traditional dances from the Nattaya-Silp Thai dancers, a fruit carving demonstration by Khun Laong Hertz and music from Khun Wan completed the presentation.

Guest chef for the festivities is Chalong Sakkapalangkul, executive chef of Dusit D2 Hotel in Chiang Mai. Together with Benjarong Restaurant?s chef Phacharaporn Noinak, he?s whipping up authentic Thai dishes for the lunch and dinner buffet that will be available at Benjarong until April 18 (for reservations, call 8673333 ext. 3888).

One of the dishes we sampled during the festivities was pomelo salad, a refreshing blend of pomelo, shrimps, strips of chicken and peanuts tossed with a tangy dressing. Here?s a recreation of the dish, based on the recipe given by Dusit?s chefs.

Thai Pomelo Salad

For the dressing:
? c sugar
? c water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 ? tbsp patis (fish sauce)
? red bell pepper, finely diced

For the salad:
250 g small to medium shrimps
1 small chicken breast, cut into strips
1 medium-size pink pomelo
1 onion, diced and fried in a little oil
? c roasted peanuts

Make the dressing:

In a saucepan combine sugar and water. Simmer until sugar dissolves completely and liquid is clear. Combine lemon juice, patis and bell pepper in a bowl and whisk in sugar-water mixture. Let cool.

Make the salad:

Boil or steam shrimps until they turn pinkish orange. Peel shrimps and remove the heads. Cook chicken breast strips in a non-stick pan until fully cooked. Peel pomelo and slice into bite-size segments.
In a salad bowl, combine shrimps, chicken breast, pomelo, onions and peanuts. Pour in salad dressing and toss to coat well. Serve chilled.

Cook?s tips:

Save the heads of the shrimps for future use such as to make shrimp sauce for pancit palabok. You can store the shrimp heads in the refrigerator for up to two days or keep in a tightly closed container in the freezer for about a month.

Add a bit of chilli sauce to the dressing if you want it spicy .

Do not use peanuts that are heavily salted or flavored. Use plain roasted peanuts so as not to alter the flavor profile of the dish.