Sour Orange Curry of Trout and Vegetables

This is a delicious Thai recipe using fresh water fish. It is typical of the plains river regions of Thailand.

Sour Orange Curry of Trout and Vegetables
(Geng Som Pla)

This curry is a very old style recipe from the Central Plains area of Thailand. It’s simplicity of flavours and preparation make it a very special dish from long ago.

3 cups stock
4 oz freshwater fish fillets (trout, tilapia, or catfish)*
3 Tbs tamarind water
1/8 tsp sugar
2 Tabs fish sauce (nam plah)
1 cup of fresh vegetables, a combination of 2 or 3 of the following:
Chaploo leaves
Winged beans
Asparagus
Yardlong beans
Bamboo
Tomatoes
Chard
Spinach
Water vegetable
Napa Cabbage
asparagus - especially white
tomatoes

curry paste ingredients
5 dried Thai chiles, deseeded and soaked
1/4 tsp pinch of salt
1 Tabs galangal minced
3 Tabs shallot chopped
2 tsp shrimp paste (kapi)

Place kapi on to a piece of tinfoil you form upwards onall four the edges. Place kapi in either a hot skillet and roast or in a toaster oven until fragrant. Open window first! Place in toaster oven or skillet heat until fragrant

Place the drained chiles and salt in a mortar, pound vigorously with pestle. Add the galangal and shallots continue pounding to make a fine paste. Add roasted kapi, pounding further to make a smooth paste.

Put stock into a saucepan, bring to a boil add 1 oz of the fish, simmer for a minute or so until cooked.. Remove and add to curry paste and pound again to thoroughly incorporate the fish into the paste.

Bring the stock to a boil again and add the sugar, fish sauce and tamarind water. Stir, add the curry paste, stirring to completely encorporate the paste into the stock. Add the vegetables to the boiling stock and cook until almost done. Add the fish fillets and cook a minute or so until they are cooked.

This curry is quite thin like a soup. Adjust seasonings to a balance of salty-sour-hot by adding more tamarind water, fish sauce, or chile to your taste. This is served with steamed jasmine rice.

* You can use sea fish as well like red snapper or rock fish