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Fried Fish With Spicy Tamarind Sauce (Pla Rad Prig)

Recipe by Connie Veneracion
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Thai
Servings 4
Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 2 whole bangus (milkfish) belly fillets or your preferred fish, about 800 grams
  • salt
  • 4 tablespoons tapioca starch or corn or potato starch
  • 1 cup cooking oil
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 4 shallots or 1 large onion
  • 2 stalks lemongrass
  • 2 bird’s eye chilies
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 2 tablespoons palm sugar brown sugar is an okay substitute
  • 2 tablespoons tamarind paste
  • 1 bell pepper any color, or half of a large one, cut into strips (optional)
  • fresh greens to garnish cilantro, mint and Thai basil are all good choices

Instructions
 

  • Heat the cooking oil.
  • Rinse the fish. Pat dry with a kitchen towel. Sprinkle with salt. Dredge in starch.
  • Fry until a light crisp golden crust forms. Scoop out and set aside. Keep warm.
  • With a mortar and pestle (or a blender or food processor), process the garlic, shallots (or onion), lemongrass and chilies to a paste.
  • Pour off the cooking oil from the pan leaving only about two tablespoonfuls.
  • Reheat the cooking oil. Over medium heat, gently cook the paste with the fish sauce, sugar and tamarind paste until separate from the oil. It’ll take about ten minutes with occasional stirring.
  • Add the bell pepper strips, cook for another 30 seconds, taste, adjust the seasonings if needed.
  • Pour the sauce over the fried fish. Garnish with torn greens and serve with rice.
Keyword Fish