Pad Phed Pladuk (Hot & Spicy Catfish).
Submitted by Sherrie Malothomp
Pad phed pladuk: a fiery Thai catfish curry built on a from-scratch pounded chili paste of lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime, with fish fried in fresh coconut cream. Bold, aromatic, and seriously hot.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
20 minREADY
45 minThis is Thai cooking at its most aromatic and uncompromisingly spicy, a catfish curry where the heat and fragrance come from a paste you pound by hand. There is no jar of curry paste here.
It starts with fresh coconut. The grated flesh is squeezed for coconut milk, and the thick cream that rises to the top gets heated in the pan, where the catfish cubes fry until just cooked, soaking up that rich coconut flavor.
The soul of the dish is the curry paste, ground in a mortar from dried chili, warm spices like cardamom, mace, and nutmeg, and a chorus of fresh Thai aromatics: lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime rind, cilantro root, and krachai. Pounding rather than blending releases the oils for a deeper, more layered flavor than a food processor manages.
Bold, fragrant, and genuinely fiery, it is the kind of dish that rewards a little effort. Serve it over plenty of steamed Thai rice to balance the heat.
Chef Tips
- Crack the coconut cream: heat the thick top layer until the oil separates, then fry the fish in it for richer flavor.
- Pound the paste in a mortar rather than blending; it bruises the aromatics and releases more flavor.
- Use a firm fish like catfish so it holds together, and fry just until cooked so it doesn’t fall apart.
- Serve over plenty of rice to temper the considerable heat.
Variations
- Use canned unsweetened coconut milk to save time.
- Swap the catfish for another firm fish, shrimp, or chicken.
- Adjust the dried and fresh chilies to control the heat.
Ingredients
Directions
Use the grated coconut to make 1¼ cups of coconut milk, by thouroughly and squeezing out the coconut milk.
You may also substitute an equivalent amount of canned (unsweetened) coconut milk.
Cut the catfish fillet into medium size cubes.
Discard seeds from the dry chilli, and soak in cold water.
Separate about ½ cup of “cream” from the coconut milk, and heat in a frying pan.
Fry the catfish pieces in the coconut “cream” until just cooked and put aside.
Put the following ingredients in a motar: salt, peppercorns, cumin, coriander seeds, mace, cardamon, nutmeg.
Pound until well mixed into a fine pulp.
Drain the dried chilli (discarding the water) and add to the paste in motar.
Continue pounding until the chilli pieces are mixed in.
Add lemongrass, galanga, kaffir lime rind, cillantro roots, krachai, and fresh Thai chilli.
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