Fish Soup Recipe

What a fantastic Fish soup this is, everyone that has seen a few of my video logs will know I’m not a big fan of fish!  But this soup is awesome, predominantly spicy sour with a million other flavours up for grabs, okay maybe not a million, but definitely a burst of flavours which seems to get better the more you eat.

In this fish soup recipe you can use pretty much any fish you like providing it is not strong flavoured, we used a Snake Head fish so named because the head looks like a snakes head… Doh!

It looks like a breed of catfish with out any whiskers crossed with an eel and tastes a bit like either.  That’s not the point though.  It’s basically a fairly meaty bland flavour which is a marvellous foil for the spicy sour soup and carries it deliciously.

There are a couple of other weird and wonderful Thai ingredients in this recipe, one of them is Kachai which is a “Rhizome” often referred to as “Lesser Siamese Ginger” unfortunately it isn’t readily available fresh in western countries although it can be obtained in jars (in brine) or frozen usually pre shredded.  It’s doesn’t taste like ginger so don’t even think about substituting

The other is Radish or “Sweet Radish” to give it its full Thai name, often confusingly translated by Thais as Turnip.  I’m here to tell you it tastes like our old friend the Red Radish but not quite so pungent.  In the full tutorial we explain how best to use substitutes for these ingredients

If you are a bit new to Thai cooking, if you are a regular “Thai Foodie” or even a seasoned chef, you’re going to learn something from Khwanjai’s Thai Cooking School

You can also sign up for Khwanjai’s Cooking School here http://thaifood-tv.com/thai-cooking-classes

Warmest Regards

Jules and ‘er Ladyship

Here’s Where you’ll find the Full Fish Soup Class

Below is a basic, quick guide to the recipe together with this tiny preview video

Thai Fish Soup Recipe

(Gaeng Som)
How To Make Fish Soup

Ingredients:
Fish of choice
Sardine
Chinese Lettuce
Cauliflower
Carrots
Green Beans
Shallots
Kachai
Radish
Red Curry Paste
Chicken Stock
Tamarind Puree
Palm Sugar
Salt
Fish Sauce
Cooking Oil

Prepare Thus:
chop fish into chunks
slice carrots and radish, leave to one side
dice the shallots
chop Chinese lettuce into squares
green beans into logs and Cauliflower into flat florets

Using a Pestle and Mortar
first in to the mortar is the Kachai, pound to a soft woody pulp
now the shallots, pounding until fully mixed and…
add the red curry paste, continue pounding until fully mixed
add the sardine, and continue pounding until fish is completely mixed in and that’s that part completely done!

Cooking:
drop the chunks of fish into a wokful of hot oil – deep fry, turning every 2-3 minutes until golden brown, great tip in video to stop fish sticking to the wok
simultaniously boil a pan of water and add the contents of the mortar stirring well
chicken stock, salt, fish sauce, tamarind pureé,  palm sugar are next and stir again, taste test and adjust as required.
Like with the flavour?
add carrot and radish and leave to boil for 2-3 minutes check for taste again
add the remaining veggies all together and bring back to boiling
The fish should be cooked so it’s time to add the deep fried fish to the soup, stir it in 2 or 3 times and simmer for 3 minutes
That’s it … Done!

Serving Ideas:
Fantastic soup is almost always eaten with rice, it deserves a fantastic rice which is of course Jasmine rice.  The amount we made for this Fish Soup Recipe is really enough for 4 people when served as compliment to other Thai dishes.

What would you have with it?

Try our delicious Sweet and Sour Chicken or several of our Stir Fry Classes for that matter.  Another useful addition which will also compliment is our Thai Omelet and we often have BBQ Pork Ribs also giving you a nice varied range of texture and flavours that all go together nicely

Thanks for visiting