Kaeng som — a hot-sour-sweet, soup-like dish
 One
of the classic dishes of the Central Region, kaeng som is made by pounding
dried chillies together with shallots, garlic and fermented shrimp paste.
The paste is then boiled in water, seasoned with sour tamarind juice, palm
sugar and fish salt until an ideal balance of sourness, sweetness and
saltiness is achieved. The meat and vegetable ingredients are then added.
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
This is a simple hot and sour soup, made with the fish of your choice.
In Thailand the vegetable is generally phak bung (swamp cabbage), but if
you don't have that cabbage, kale, or even broccoli can be substituted
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.
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