Any excuse to use nuoc cham and rare beef
Use any salad you like - we are weird in Europe in that we make a salad from veg and variations on lettuce and then add a few herbs whereas in other parts of the world herbs are the salad. Tabouleh in the Middle East for example isn't parsley in salad, it's parsley as salad.
Like porridge but nice!
When I had it in Hong Kong it seemed as though the rice had been broken up which made it smoother. I just use rice
What do you mean you don't speak Thai? You eat Green Curry don't you?
You can buy perfectly reasonable thai green curry paste and the shop-bought stuff includes kaffir lime leaves which makes life easier, But Thai food is all about freshness; bright, fresh flavours - herbs, chillis lemongrass. You should try it