Laotian Fish Soup Kang Som Pa Food

SOUTHERN THAI GAENG SOM RECIPE - SOUR FISH SOUP

Steps:

• Begin by making the curry paste. Peel the stems off all the chilies, then add them to a blender or food processor.
• Peel the garlic, and shallots, and cut the turmeric into pieces, and toss them all into the blender.
• Add about a cup of water, and blend for a few seconds until pureed.
• NOTE: Be warned that turmeric stains, so don't use a nice blender!
• To prepare the green papaya, first peel the outer green skin, rinse it in water to remove the sap, then shave off thin bite sized pieces of papaya so you have thin wedges. Cut the papaya like you're whittling a piece of wood. Then set aside.
• For the limes, slice and squeeze them into a separate bowl.
• Put a big soup pot on the stove and turn to medium heat, and add in all the curry paste you just blended.
• Add 2 liters of water to the soup, using some of the water to rinse out the blender, and add to the pot.
• Add the shrimp paste, and stir the soup to make sure the shrimp paste fully dissolves.
• Take the green papaya, add it all to the soup, stir quickly, then put the cover on to bring to a boil.
• Once the gaeng som is boiling, gently add the pieces of fish.
• But here's the Thai Aunty trick - don't stir the soup until the fish is fully cooked. If you stir the soup when the fish is still raw, your soup will taste fishy (according to Thai cooking practice).
• Boil the soup, without stirring, for about 5 - 8 minutes.
• When the fish is finished cooking, you can stir gently, and then turn off the stove pretty quickly so you don't overcook the fish.
• Once your heat is off, it's time to season with salt and lime juice. Add some at first, stir gently, taste test, then add more if needed.
• Taste test until your gaeng som is sour, slightly salt, and extremely spicy.

LAOTIAN FISH SOUP (KANG SOM PA)

Steps:

• In a soup pot, bring water to a boil with lemon grass (or lemon rind) and salt; reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add fish and fish sauce and return to a boil.
• Reduce heat again and add tomatoes and simmer gently, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and discard lemon grass (lemon rind) and add spring onions and cilantro. Stir in lemon juice to taste.
• More fish sauce can be added also, if desired.
• Serve hot.

LAOTIAN CHICKEN & RICE SOUP

Steps:

• In large pot, add oil, garlic spring onions, fennel seeds, cayenne pepper, cinnamon and peanuts. Saute until a little brown and toasted.
• Add coconut milk and rice. Cover. cook 15 minutes on low.
• Note: You may add mushrooms instead of rice.
• in this step.
• Stir a few times during cooking.
• Add cooked chicken.

LAOTIAN CATFISH SOUP

Steps:

• Cut the catfish fillets into strips about 1 inch long by 1/2 inch wide, place on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
• Sautè the garlic, chilies, lime leaves, lemongrass and shallots in the oil in a deep skillet over medium heat until very fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth or water, the lime juice and the galangal if you're using it and heat the mixture to a slow simmer.
• Whisk the peanut butter and 2 tablespoons of the coconut milk in a small bowl until blended and then whisk it into the garlic mixture. Stir in the fish and remaining coconut milk and simmer gently until the fish layers separate when prodded with a fork, about 2 minutes. Stir in fish sauce, basil and cilantro and simmer 2 minutes. Serve immediately, with rice if desired.

LAOTIAN CURRY SOUP (KAO PBOON)

Steps:

• Fill a large stockpot with water and add chicken, galangal, ginger, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked.
• Remove chicken pieces and allow to cool.
• Continue simmering broth.
• Cook rice sticks according to package instructions and drain.
• When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones. Shred meat with a fork. Set aside.
• Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat; add shallots, garlic, and curry paste and saute until fragrant.
• Stir in coconut milk, reduce heat, and simmer about 5 minutes.
• Remove galangal and ginger pieces from broth and discard. Add curry coconut mixture to broth along with shredded chicken, fish sauce, and sugar (adjusting to your tastes).
• Serve additions noted in description on a platter, along with extra fish sauce. Layer noodles in bowls, ladle broth over noodles (along with chicken) and pass platter of garnishes for toppings.

KAENG SOM (THAI SOUTHERN STYLE SOUR CURRY)

Steps:

• Using a mortar and pestle (food processor), grind all of the curry paste ingredients together very, very finely (it is important to do this well so you won't happen upon any large bits of chili in your soup!).
• Put the curry paste aside and prepare the soup ingredients. Thinly slice sour, slightly unripe pineapple. Dice the sour papaya into 1 inch cubes. Clean and cut some fish into bite-size pieces until you have about 1-1 1/2 cups.Set all of these aside. For your mise en place, you'll need a bottle of fish sauce, 4 sliced limes ready for squeezing, and some sugar.
• Bring about 4 cups of water to the boil, add about half of the curry paste and stir and simmer until the broth is fragrant. Add more curry paste if necessary, but don't add it all at once as it may be too much! Add the pineapple and the sour papaya. Simmer until they begin to soften, 3-4 minutes, and taste the curry. The pineapple and papaya should add a slightly sweet and sour flavor to the broth.
• Squeeze a few limes' worth of lime juice into the broth until you reach a tolerable state of sourness. Remember, it is called "sour" curry, so there should be a definite sour taste, followed by spicy, salty and sweet. Add some fish sauce if it isn't salty enough.
• Add your fish. Simmer until the fish is just done, 2-3 minutes, remove from heat, and you're done! Serve with rice.