Gaeng Som (Thai Sour Curry)

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Gaeng Som (Thai Sour Curry)

Gaeng Som (Thai Sour Curry) is a traditional Thai recipe for a classic curry of fish and vegetables in a chilli, fingerrrot and shrimp paste sauce acidified with tamarind paste. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Thai version of: Thai Sour Curry (Gaeng Som).

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

20 minutes

Total Time:

40 minutes

Serves:

Rating:

Tags : Curry Chilli Recipes Vegetable Recipes Thailand Recipes

Ingredients:

For the Curry Paste:
70g small, dried, chillies
1 1/2 tbsp fingerroot, finely chopped
1 tbsp shrimp paste (belachan)
50g shallots, sliced

For the Curry:
1.5kg water
350g white fish, scaled, gutted, and cut into 10 pieces
450g mooli (daikon radish), cut into 1.5cm wide pieces
2 1/2 tbsp palm sugar
60ml Nam Pla (fish sauce)
250ml thin tamarind paste
400g vegetables (any of fine beans, cabbage, watermelon peel, water spinach, cauliflower, green papaya, bamboo shoots etc)

Method:

Soak the chillies in a bowl of warm water until soft (at least 1 hour) then slice into pieces. Transfer to a mortar and smash to a paste then add the fingerroot and shrimp paste. Mash into a paste then mix with the shrimp paste. Pound until smooth, scrape from the mortar and set aside.

For the curry, bring the water to a boil then stir in the curry paste. Boil rapidly for 1 minute then add the raw fish. Boil the fish for 3 minutes then remove from the water with a slotted spoon and set aside. Allow to cool slightly then remove the skin and pound to a paste with a mortar and pestle (or use a blender). Add this fish paste back to the curry.

Now add the mooli an boil for 10 minutes. or until thoroughly cooked. Stir in the palm sugar along with the tamarind paste and fish sauce. Finally add the remainder of the vegetables and cook for 5 minutes, or until soft. Remove from the heat and serve accompanied with rice.