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Gaeng som pla
Sour fish curry
แกงส้มปลา (kaeng som pla) — Southern Thai sour orange fish curry, no coconut
Down the Andaman coast and in Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat, this is everyday home food, the curry that turns up at lunch alongside rice, fried egg and a plate of raw vegetables. It is thin, brothy and startlingly bright: fresh turmeric turns it orange, tamarind makes it sour, and a pounded paste of chillies and shrimp paste gives it real heat, all without any coconut milk. Chunks of firm white fish poach gently in the soup with green papaya and long beans. Eat it with plenty of jasmine rice to soak up the broth. Chef's tip: pound a little of the poached fish into the curry paste; it thickens the broth slightly and makes it taste of the sea.
- Total time
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the paste
- 8 dried long red chilliesseeds removed, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes
- 4 shallotsroughly chopped
- 5 cloves garlicpeeled
- 1 oz fresh turmericpeeled and sliced, or 1.5 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 ½ tsp shrimp paste
- ½ tsp salt
For the curry
- 3 ¼ cups water
- 1 lb firm white fish fillets (sea bass, snapper or barramundi)skinned, cut into 4 cm pieces
- 7 oz green papayapeeled and cut into bite-sized pieces, or bamboo shoots
- 3 ½ oz long beanscut into 4 cm lengths
- 3 tbsp tamarind pasteseedless
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp palm sugar
- 1 tbsp lime juice
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Drain the 8 dried long red chillies and pound them in a mortar with 5 bird's eye chillies and ½ tsp salt, then add 1 oz fresh turmeric, 4 shallots, 5 cloves garlic and 1 ½ tsp shrimp paste and pound (or blend with a splash of the water) to a smooth orange paste.
Step 2: Bring 3 ¼ cups water to a boil in a saucepan. Add about 80 g of the 2 ⅞ oz firm white fish fillets (sea bass, snapper or barramundi) and poach for 3 minutes until opaque. Lift it out, pound it into the paste, then stir the paste into the pan.
4 minStep 3: Boil the broth for 3 minutes so the raw edge of the shallots and garlic cooks out.
3 minStep 4: Add 7 oz green papaya and simmer over a medium heat for 6–8 minutes until it is just tender to the tip of a knife.
7 minStep 5: Add 3 ½ oz long beans, 3 tbsp tamarind paste, 2 tbsp fish sauce and 1 tsp palm sugar and simmer for 2 minutes. Taste: it should be sour first, then salty and hot, with sweetness only in the background.
2 minStep 6: Slide in the rest of the 14 oz firm white fish fillets (sea bass, snapper or barramundi) and lower the heat so the broth barely trembles. Poach for 4–5 minutes, without stirring, until the fish is opaque all the way through and flakes easily (145°F / 145 °F). Stirring hard at this point is the usual mistake: the fish breaks into shreds.
5 minStep 7: Stir in 1 tbsp lime juice gently, check the seasoning again and serve hot with jasmine rice.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 26 g
- Carbs
- 14 g
- Fat
- 3 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does gaeng som pla take?
- About 30 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Is it very spicy?
- It has some heat. Use less chilli for a milder version, or more if you like it hot.
- What can I use instead of shallots?
- Half an onion per 2 shallots.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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