Gaeng Som

Ingredients

Curry paste

• 8dried red chillies, soaked
• 6shallots
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• 2 tablespoonskapi, shrimp paste
• 3cm fresh turmeric, or 2 teaspoons ground
• 150 gcooked white fish, for the paste

Soup

• 1.2 litreswater
• 80 gtamarind pulp
• 3 tablespoonsfish sauce
• 2 tablespoonspalm sugar
• 500 gfirm white fish, in chunks

Vegetables, choose two or three

• 200 ggreen papaya, shredded
• 200 gdaikon, in batons
• 150 gwhite cabbage, in wedges
• 150 ggreen beans, cut short
• a cha-om omelette, cut into squares

To serve

• steamed rice
• extra fish sauce and chilli

Directions

1. Reduce the chillies considerably for a milder pot. Soak the dried chillies in warm water for twenty minutes. Shake out most of the seeds for less heat. Drain them and chop them roughly. Poach a small piece of white fish in water. Flake it and check carefully for bones. Pounding the paste is done in a mortar.
2. Put the chillies and salt into a heavy mortar. Pound them until they break down. Add the shallots and keep pounding. Add the turmeric and work it in.
3. Add the shrimp paste and pound it through. Pound until it is a smooth thick paste. Add only a little water if you use one. Preparing the tamarind takes ten minutes.
4. Put the tamarind pulp in a bowl. Pour over 300 ml of hot water. Break it up with your fingers as it softens. Discard the seeds and the fibres. Bring the water to a boil in a pot. Whisk in the curry paste until it dissolves. There should be no lumps left.
5. Let it boil for about five minutes. Add the tamarind water, fish sauce and palm sugar. Taste the broth now, before anything else. It should be sour first, then salty, then sweet.
6. Adjust the tamarind, fish sauce and sugar until it balances. Do not aim for a mild broth here. Add the firmest vegetables first. Daikon and green papaya take about six minutes. Simmer it gently for five minutes. The flesh should just flake apart.
7. Take the pot right off the heat. Serving it is done hot with rice. Ladle it into a communal bowl. Serve it in the middle of the table. A milder dish should be on the table to balance it. Put extra fish sauce and chilli out for those who want more. It keeps a day but the vegetables soften.

Technique

• Southern Thai gaeng som is among the hottest dishes in Thai cooking and is deliberately so.
• The central Thai version, sometimes distinguished as gaeng som central style, is milder and paler.

Substitutions

• Ground turmeric replaces fresh, using less, though the colour is duller.
• Prawns can replace the fish, and a ready-made southern curry paste saves a great deal of pounding.

Variations

• A version made with prawns and green papaya is particularly common.
• Some households use pineapple in place of some of the tamarind.
• A vegetarian version replaces the fish and shrimp paste with fermented soybean, though it is a different dish.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gaeng Som?

Gaeng Som is a soup & stew from Thailand: sour orange curry of fish and vegetables, sharp with tamarind and no coconut.

How long does Gaeng Som take to make?

Gaeng Som takes 30 minutes of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Gaeng Som?

Yes, within limits. Ground turmeric replaces fresh, using less, though the colour is duller. Prawns can replace the fish, and a ready-made southern curry paste saves a great deal of pounding.

What is the most important thing to get right in Gaeng Som?

Adjust the tamarind, fish sauce and sugar until it balances. Do not aim for a mild broth here. Add the firmest vegetables first. Daikon and green papaya take about six minutes. Simmer it gently for five minutes. The flesh should just flake apart.