← Nouns Cooking · Thai

Ingredients

• 500 g firm fish fillets (snapper, barramundi or salmon), cut into 4 cm pieces
• 60 g plain flour
• 1 pinch Salt
• oil, for deep-frying
• 6 cloves Garlic
• 3 long red chillies
• 2 Bird's eye chilli (optional)
• 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 4 tbsp tamarind purée
• 60 g Palm sugar, grated
• 2 tbsp Fish sauce
• 3 tbsp Water
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 3 Spring onion, cut into short lengths
• 1 handful Thai basil (optional)

Method

1. Roughly pound or blitz the garlic and chillies into a coarse paste.
2. Pat the fish dry, season with salt and toss in the flour, shaking off the excess.
3. Heat 5 cm of oil in a wok to 180°C (350°F). Fry the fish in two batches for 3–4 min, until golden, crisp and cooked through. Drain on kitchen paper. Fry the basil leaves for 10 seconds, if using, until glassy.
4. Pour off all but 1 tbsp oil. Fry the garlic-chilli paste over medium heat for 1 minute, until fragrant but not brown.
5. Add the tamarind, palm sugar, fish sauce and water and bubble for 2–3 min, until syrupy and glossy. Taste and add lime juice: sweet, sour and hot should all be clear.
6. Turn off the heat, add the fish and spring onions and toss quickly to coat. Top with the crispy basil and serve at once with rice.

Tips

• For a gluten-free version, coat the fish in rice flour or cornflour instead of plain flour.
• Toss the fish in the sauce at the last moment so the coating stays crunchy.

Sources

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

Marion’s Kitchen ImportFood