← Nouns Cooking · Thai

Ingredients

• 600 g catfish fillets or steaks, cut into 4 cm pieces and patted very dry
• 500 ml neutral oil, for deep-frying
• 3 tbsp Thai red curry paste
• 2 tbsp Fish sauce
• 1½ tbsp Palm sugar, grated
• 4 tbsp Water
• 30 g Fingerroot (krachai), fresh or frozen, cut into matchsticks (optional)
• 2 sprigs fresh green peppercorns (optional)
• 4 Makrut (kaffir) lime leaves, torn
• 2 long red chillies, sliced
• 4 round Thai aubergines, quartered (optional)
• 1 handful Thai basil

Method

1. Heat the oil in a wok to 180°C (350°F). Fry the catfish in batches for 5–6 min, until deep golden and crisp all over. Drain on kitchen paper and pour off all but 3 tbsp of the oil.
2. Fry the curry paste in the reserved oil over medium heat for 1–2 minutes, stirring, until it darkens and smells toasty.
3. Add the fish sauce, palm sugar and water and stir until the sugar melts, then add the krachai, peppercorns, lime leaves, chillies and aubergines and toss for 2 minutes, until the aubergines are just tender.
4. Return the fish and toss gently for 1 minute so every piece is coated in the thick sauce.
5. Turn off the heat, fold in the basil and serve straight away with jasmine rice, while the fish is still crunchy.

Tips

• Drying the fish thoroughly stops the oil spitting and gives a crisper crust.
• Most red curry pastes contain shrimp paste; check the label for gluten.

Sources

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

Hungry in Thailand ImportFood