Recipe: Thai Ginger Sauce (with Trout), Thai Chili Fish Sauce, Thai Pla Jian (Fish in Ginger Sauce) for Marilyn

Thai Ginger Sauce (With Trout)
Source: Fish & Shellfish, by Jim Peterson

FOR THE SAUCE:
10 md dried chinese mushrooms
1 c hot water
1/4 c rice vinegar or sherry vinegar
1/4 c palm or granulated sugar
3 tb dark soy sauce
2 tb grated ginger
1 sm garlic clove, chopped and crushed into a fine paste
1 juice of one lime
1/2 ts dark sesame oil, preferably japanese
3 scallions, including greens, finely; sliced

FOR THE FISH:
4 whole trout, (12 to 16-ounce) cleaned
1 salt and pepper
1/2 c all purpose flour
1/4 c vegetable oil

Preparing the sauce: Rinse the mushrooms under cold running water and then soak them in the hot water for about 30 minutes. Remove and discard the mushroom stems, slice and reserve the caps, and save the soaking liquid. Carefully pour the soaking liquid into a small sauce pan, leaving behind any bits of grit or sand. Add the sliced mushrooms and the remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer very gently for about 10 minutes.

Cooking the fish: Season the fish with salt and pepper and roll them in flour. Pat them thoroughly to shake off any excess flour. In a non-stick pan, saute the fish over medium to high heat in oil until crispy on both sides (10 minutes per inch of thickness). Quickly transfer to a baking sheet covered with paper towels and pat the fish to get rid of any clinging oil. Transfer again to heated plates, pour the sauce over each fillet, and serve immediately. Yield: 4 servings.

Thai Chili Fish Sauce
Yield: 8 Servings
Recipe from Tommy Tang, New Yorker Magazine,

6 tb thai fish sauce
5 tb thinly sliced scallions
3 tb fresh lime or lemon juice
3 tb finely chopped cilantro
1 1/2 tb minced serrano chilies
2 ts roasted chili paste
1/2 ts minced garlic

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Will keep in refrigerator for 3 days.

Thai Pla Jian (Fish In Ginger Sauce)
Source: Colonel I.F. Khuntilanont-Philpott

1 tb kratiem (garlic), minced
3 oz minced pork (optional)
1 sm carrot, julienned
1 tb grated ginger
2 tb black, dried chinese mushroom, soaked 15 min
before slicing
2 ts yellow bean sauce
1 tb light soy sauce
1 tb fish sauce
1 ts kapi (shrimp paste)
1 ts nam tan paep (palm sugar)
1 c stock
2 tb hom daeng (shallot/purple onion), chopped
2 tb prik chi fa daeng (red thai jalapeno), sliced very finely
1 tb nam makham piag (tamarind juice)
1 ts prikthai (ground black pepper)

This is another simple traditional treatment for fish: this time it is deep fried. The recipe includes some minced pork: this can easily be omitted. It is included in this case only to reproduce the traditional taste, as in the past this dish was deep fried in pork fat, which transferred the pork flavour to the fish. Today it would more typically be fried in vegetable oil, hence the small quantity of pork.

Equally traditionally this dish is deep fried in a wok: the tiny shallow woks foisted on western buyers by name-brand suppliers are frankly border line dangerous for this, so unless you have a traditional fairly deep wok, preferably a 20" wok or larger, I would recommend that you follow the dictates of caution and fry it in a
deep sided skillet.

Note also that the dish is usually prepared with chicken stock. You can if you wish use a fish stock, but the chicken stock adds to the complexity of flavour in the dish.

Finally the fish is normally fried with the head on: this does, I believe, contribute to the flavour, but if you can't bear the fish staring accusingly at you as you cook it, feel free to behead it first.

You need a small-to-medium (about a pound in weight or a little larger) flat fish (pomfret, flounder, ...), cleaned, and with the sides slashed for the marinade to penetrate.

Mix the marinade, and then in a small saucepan bring to a boil, and simmer for about 5 minutes; taste, and if needed adhust the flavour balance. Cool, and rub into both sides of the fish, and leave it to stand, covered, in a cool place, in the marinade for at least an hour.

Remove the fish from the marinade, and allow it to drain. Transfer the remaining marinade to a small saucepan, and add 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, two tablespoons of sliced prik chi fa daeng, and two tablespoons of julienned ginger, and then simmer to reduce to a sauce like consistency. If desired one tablespoon of brandy may be added to the sauce (optional).

Heat enough oil to deep fry the fish in a suitable pan over medium heat, and slide the fish into the hot oil, turn once, and cook until the fish is cooked through. In the oil the fish was fried in saute 2 tablespoons of shallots until crispy, and then one tablespoon each of bai manglaek (sweet basil leaves) and mint leaves, and use the fried shallots, mint and basil as a garnish.

Serving & Storage: Serve on a platter, pour the reduced sauce over the fish.