← Nouns Cooking · Thai

Ingredients

• 1 Lemongrass, finely sliced
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 3 Shallot
• 4 Dried chillies
• 2 Bird's eye chilli
• 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 350 g chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1½ tbsp Pla ra (Thai fermented fish sauce), bottled
• 1 tbsp Fish sauce
• 750 ml Water
• ½ tsp Salt
• 4 round Thai aubergines, quartered
• 100 g choy sum or bok choy, cut into lengths
• 3 Spring onion, cut into lengths
• 2 tbsp toasted rice powder (khao khua)
• 1 handful Dill, roughly chopped
• 1 handful lemon basil (or Thai basil)

Method

1. Pound the lemongrass, garlic, shallots and both chillies into a coarse paste.
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat and fry the paste for 1–2 min until fragrant. Add the chicken and stir for 3 min, until it turns opaque.
3. Add the pla ra, fish sauce, water and salt, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 min.
4. Add the aubergines and simmer for 4–5 min until just tender, then add the greens and spring onions for 1–2 min. Check the chicken is cooked through to 75°C (165°F).
5. Stir in the toasted rice to thicken the broth slightly, then turn off the heat and fold in the dill and basil. Serve with sticky rice.

Tips

• Dill is an everyday herb in Isan and Laos; don’t skip it, it’s the soul of the dish.
• Use bottled, pasteurised pla ra sauce rather than raw fermented fish. Make toasted rice by dry-roasting sticky rice until golden, then grinding it.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Hungry in Thailand Simply Suwanee