Happy Monday. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I made a few things today that I’ve been waiting to see how it’s done here. Just fyi, won’t have class tomorrow and the next day for the new year so will get back to you on Thursday!
My work area today:
The things we made today were:
- Chu chi curry paste (Nam Prik Gaeng Chu Chu)
- Shrimp in dried red curry (Chu Chi Goong)
- Fried spring rolls & sweet chili sauce (Por Pie Tord)
- Stir-fried beef with oyster sauce (Nua Pad Nam Man Hoy)
- Salt-crusted grilled fish (Pla Pao) with dipping sauce
- Thai sweet dumpling (Ka Nom Tom Bai Toey)
The two things I had been waiting to see how they do it here were the fried spring rolls with sweet chili sauce and the salt-crusted grilled (well, it was actually roasted) fish. They were both excellent, and my top 2! The fish was so moist and flavorful with pandanus leaves, galangal ginger, kaffir lime leaves and smashed lemongrass stuffed in it’s belly and mouth. The spring rolls were crispy and so easy to make and paired great with the sweet chili sauce. Choices, choices…I will go with the salt crusted fish…it was so easy to make and so healthily (is that a word?) flavorful. AND…a lot of people are scared to cook a whole fish, so this will show you how easy it is!
For the salt crusted fish, you will need:
- 1 whole sea bass fish
- 2-3 lemongrass, smashed
- 5 slices galangal ginger, smashed
- 2-3 kaffir lime leaves, stem removed and torn in quarters
- 2 pandanus leaves, tied together
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 2-3 green birds eye chilies, chopped
- 2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1-2 coriander root, chopped
- 1-2 limes, juiced
- 1/2 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 3 mint leaves, chopped
Steps:
- Wash fish well and remove guts and gills (if not already done). Do not take the scales off. Put fish on large piece of aluminum foil.
- Stuff the lemongrass, galangal ginger, kaffir lime and pandanus leaves into the belly of the fish, and the mouth.
- Mix salt with flour and rub on both sides of the fish.
- Close foil by making a foil packet and bake in oven at 375 degrees for about one hour, turn packet over half way through.
- To make dipping sauce, pound chilies, garlic, mint and coriander root until fine.
- Add lime juice, sugar and fish sauce to combine. Taste should be spicy, sour, salty and sweet.
- When fish is done, remove skin and remove meat and serve with sauce.
And the other dishes I made today:
That is it for today. Catch you back on Thursday! Two day break from class for the new year!
