Thai Cooking - some popular recipes

Kaeng som — a hot-sour-sweet, soup-like dish

One of Phetchaburi’s signature versions of kaeng som is made with a sea crab called puu maa and the tender shoots of an indigenous herb called chakhram that thrives in the saline soil near the sea. Another local version is made with a shellfish called hoy siab and young tamarind shoots.

Sour Fish Soup - Kaeng Som Phak Bung Phrik Sod Kab Pla

ingredients

for chili paste:

3 tablespoons of finely sliced prik ki nu daeng (red birdeye or dynamite
chilis)
3 tablespoons of finely sliced shallots (purple onions)
3 tablespoons crushed garlic
1 tablespoon of kapi (fermented shrimp paste)
a dash of fish sauce.

for soup

1 pound of fish, diced
2 pounds of vegetables
10 small tomatoes, skinned, seeded, and diced
3 tablespoons of lime juice
3 tablespoons of fish sauce
3 tablespoons of tamarind juice (or rice vinegar if unavailable)
3 tabelspoons of prik chi fa (green jalapenos) thinly sliced
1 tablespoon of a sour hot sauce (such as Tabasco)

method

combine the ingredients for the chili paste to a fine even consistency.
Wash and dice the fish.
Place the fish in a bowl, add the lime juice, fish sauce, tamarind juice, Tabasco and chili paste, and leave to marinade for at least an hour.
Bring two cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan or wok, and add the liquid from the marinading fish, then add the vegetables and boil for about two minutes.
Adjust the flavour to taste (it should be a little salty and a little sour, and as hot as you desire it at this stage).
Add the tomato and bring back to the boil
Add the remaining ingredients, return to the boil, and stir occasionally until the fish is cooked.