July 14, 2004
CURRIED FISH INNARDS

I apologize for the lack of food diary this week. Sometimes life throws you a curve… then it hits you really hard in the balls. Oh well. Now seems like a good time to reveal the origin of this website’s name. Long ago, in the distant past, I cooked Thai food quite often. One of my roommates was told to go on a low fat diet. In deference to him I looked for Thai curries that did not use coconut milk, as coconut is considered “bad” by nutritionists who receive funding from soybean producers. Anyway, a really nice Thai person sent me a recipe for Gaeng Tai Pla, a southern Thai curry that is devoid of coconut. Instead it uses Tai Pla which is Thai for pickled fish innards. Sometimes Gaeng Thai Pla is translated as Fish kidney Curry. I’m not sure, but I don’t think fish have kidneys. The story is that fishermen in southern Thailand needed a dish that would keep for extended periods while they where at sea. Thus they invented a curry using salted fermented fish guts. I never prepared this dish for my roommates, but I did make it for the monks at the local Thai Buddhist temple. It is one of the hottest Thai dishes, and that’s saying something. Quite delicious, but perhaps an acquired taste. I can’t find the recipe I used to use, I have one in Thai, but I haven’t taken the time to translate it. I not sure my wife would be too thrilled if I made this again. I used to cook it in the mornings before taking it to the monks, as they must eat before noon. It kinda stank up the house in a weird way. The following recipe comes from the excellent cookbook Thai Food by David Thompson. If your so inclined, you can find Tai Pla sauce in bottles at you local Thai grocer. This recipe uses stock, but I used to use water. I remember it called for about 30 dried prik ee nu (bird chilies). My local Thai grocer sells homemade Gaeng Thai Pla on the weekends if I need a fix. Yum!

Curried Fish Innards
Gaeng Tai Pla

1 cup stock
pinch of salt
1 cup fish innards (tai pla)
1 T palm sugar
2 T fish sauce
2 T tamarind water
3 kaffir lime leaves, torn
handful of sliced green beans (or long beans)
5 slices of galangal
a few slices of white turmeric- if available

paste

3 T dried bird’s eye chillies, soaked and drained
2 T fresh bird’s eye chillies (scuds)
2 tsp salt
4 T chopped lemongrass
1 T chopped galangal
2 tsp finely grated kaffir lime zest
2 T chopped red shallot
2 T chopped garlic
1 T chopped fresh red turmeric
15 white peppercorns
1 T shrimp paste (kapi)
½ cup boiled or grilled salted fish (I used Pla Too)

Make the paste by pounding ingredients together with a mortar and pestle. Bring stock and salt to a boil. Add the innards. Let stand for a few minutes and then strain. Return stock to a boil. Dissolve 3 T of the paste in the stock. Season with palm sugar, fish sauce and tamarind water.Add lime leave, green beans, galangal and turmeric. Simmer briefly until thick.

Serve with raw vegetable such as apple eggplants, betel leaves, cabbage, cucumber, white turmeric, and sprigs of coriander (cilantro).

Eat with lots of rice, it’s super hot!

Posted by eric at July 14, 2004 02:38 PM