Fleshpots Of Thailand
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday March 19, 1991
THAI food is as diverse as Thailand is large. This makes for an exciting food pilgrimage through the major regions. Central Thailand, of which Bangkok is the capital, is the breadbasket. It also has the most refined cuisine.
Northern Thailand is a cool mountainous region. The capital Chiang Mai is in a green fertile valley. In the north they rely more on meat and fresh water fish. Chiang Mai is the potato growing centre of Thailand and it's pork and duck country offering the best of Thai pork cooking.
Further north Chiang Rai is famous for sausages. The best is a lightly fermented sausage with a slight sour taste. You can have catfish done every which way.
Best shopping for Thai ingredients is Chinatown; Good Luck food store in Sussex Street, Dong Nam A for vegetables (it's Vietnamese) and Hong Lee for staples. Cabramatta and Marrickville are excellent areas, too.
DEEP FRIED GAROUPA TOPPED WITH CHILLI SAUCE
(Pla Kaoh Rard Prig)
From The Regent, Bangkok.
Sauce:
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons red curry paste
1 teaspoon fish sauce (nam pla)
1 teaspoon sugar
125 ml milk
12 basil leaves
1-2 each red and green mild chillies or to taste
12 basil leaves
enough vegetable oil to just cover fish in a wok
1 500g garoupa (I used a John Dory) cleaned
12 extra basil leaves
To make sauce, heat oil in a small frying pan. Fry curry paste in it until fragrant. Add fish sauce, sugar and milk, and stir. Add 12 basil leaves and chillies (whole or chopped into large pieces so people don't swallow them by mistake) and cook a few minutes. Keep warm.
Heat oil in a wok to very hot. Dry fish on paper towel. Cut 3 deep slashes into the thickest flesh on each side of the fish. Fry until golden all over and tender at thickest part. Drain fish and keep warm. Dry extra basil leaves. Deep fry until bright green - just a few seconds. Drain on paper towel. Spoon sauce over fish and scatter fried basil leaves on top.
CURRIED NOODLES
(Khao Soi)
From the Dusit Island Resort Hotel, Chiang Rai
Chilli paste:
4 dried red chillies, chopped roughly
1 tablespoon chopped shallots
2 teaspoons sliced green ginger
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric
250ml coconut milk
300g boneless skinned chicken breasts, cut lengthwise into 1-cm slices
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
750ml coconut milk, extra
1 teaspoon salt
400g rice noodles
peanut or corn oil for frying
Arrange chilli paste ingredients on an oven tray. Roast in a 180-deg C oven for 8-10 minutes or until fragrant. Pound until fine with a mortar and pestle
Bring 250ml of the coconut milk to the boil in a wok. Add chilli paste and cook in the milk until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add chicken and soy sauces. Stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add rest of milk and boil for 3 minutes. Add salt and remove from heat.
Fry 100g of the noodles in hot oil until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Boil remaining noodles in boiling water until just tender, 6-8 minutes. Drain. Place boiled noodles in serving bowls, pour chicken over the top and garnish with fried noodles.
Serve with bowls of finely diced shallots or spring onions, pickled cabbage and chilli flakes.
CHICKEN CURRY
(Kaeng Hung Ley Kai)
From the Dusit Inn, Chiang Mai.
Curry paste:
5 large dried chillies
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon grass
3 tablespoons shallots
2 tablespoons garlic cloves
2 tablespoons shrimp paste
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons fish sauce
6 chicken drumsticks
60ml vegetable oil
600ml water
2.5-cm piece ginger, peeled and julienned
3 tablespoons pickled garlic
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
60ml tamarind juice
To make paste, grind all ingredients together with a mortar and pestle, until smooth. Mix curry powder and fish sauce together and marinate drumsticks in this mixture for 20 minutes. Heat oil in a wok over medium heat.
Stir fry curry paste until fragrant. Drain drumstick and stir fry for 3 minutes. Add water and bring to the boil. Cook 5 minutes. Stir in ginger, garlic, fish sauce, sugar and tamarind juice. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Serve with boiled rice.
© 1991 Sydney Morning Herald