← Nouns Cooking · Thai

Ingredients

• 700 g whole sea bass or snapper, cleaned and scaled (or 2 thick fillets)
• 2 lemongrass stalks, bruised and cut into lengths
• 8 cloves Garlic
• 6 Bird's eye chilli
• 2 coriander roots or a few stalks
• 5 tbsp lime juice (about 3 limes)
• 4 tbsp Fish sauce
• 1 tbsp palm sugar or white sugar
• 4 tbsp hot chicken or fish stock
• 1 handful coriander leaves, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp Chinese celery leaves, chopped (optional)
• 300 g jasmine rice, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Cut 2–3 slashes on each side of the fish. Lay the lemongrass on a heatproof plate that fits your steamer and put the fish on top.
2. Steam over boiling water on high heat for 12–15 min, until the flesh at the thickest part flakes easily and is opaque right to the bone. Thick fillets need about 8 min.
3. Meanwhile pound the garlic, chillies and coriander roots to a coarse paste. Stir in the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and hot stock until the sugar dissolves. Taste: it should be very sour, salty and fiery with just a hint of sweetness.
4. Tip off most of the liquid that collects on the plate, pour the dressing over the fish and scatter with coriander and celery leaves. Serve straight away while it is piping hot.

Tips

• In Thailand it comes to the table on a fish-shaped dish over a little burner, so the broth keeps bubbling; a warmed plate helps at home.
• Squeeze the limes just before making the dressing; bottled juice tastes flat here.

Sources

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

196 flavors Hungry in Thailand