This is a delicious Thai recipe using ocean fish such as white snapper which is very popular in the south of Thailand where sour curries are a favourite.

Sour Orange Curry of White Snapper and Vegetables
(Geng Som Pla)

This curry is a very old style recipe from the the Krabi region of Thailand. It’s simplicity of flavours and preparation make it a very special dish from long ago which is still very popular today

3 cups stock
4 oz white snapper fish fillets (red snapper or any firm white fish)
3 Tbs tamarind water
1/8 tsp date sugar
2 Tabs fish sauce (nam plah)
1 cup of fresh vegetables, a combination of 2 or 3 of the following cut into bite size pieces:

Bai Chaploo leaves
Pak Won Ba leaves
Winged beans
Thai pea eggplants
Thai round small eggplants
Asparagus
Yardlong beans
Bamboo cut into bite size pieces
Tomatoes
Chard
Spinach
Water vegetable
Napa Cabbage
Asparagus - especially white
Tomatoes

For the Curry Paste
5 dried Thai chiles, deseeded and soaked
1/4 tsp or a pinch of salt
1 Tabs galangal minced
3 Tabs shallot chopped
2 tsp shrimp paste (kapi)

Place kapi on to a piece of tinfoil you form a shallow "bowl" by folding upwards on all four the edges. Place kapi in either a hot skillet and roast or in a toaster oven until fragrant. Open window first!l

Place the drained chiles and salt in a mortar, pound vigorously with pestle. Add the galangal and shallots continue pounding to make a fine paste. Add roasted kapi, pounding further to make a smooth paste.

Put stock into a saucepan, bring to a boil add 1 oz of the fish, simmer for a minute or so until cooked.. Remove and add to curry paste and pound again to thoroughly incorporate the fish into the paste.

Bring the stock to a boil again and add the sugar, fish sauce and tamarind water. Stir, add the curry paste, stirring to completely encorporate the paste into the stock. Add the vegetables to the boiling stock and cook until almost done. Add the fish fillets and cook a minute or so until they are cooked.

This curry is quite thin like a soup. Adjust seasonings to a balance of salty-sour-hot by adding more tamarind water, fish sauce, or chile to your taste. This is served with steamed jasmine rice (Thai Hom Mali).