Nam-Pla Wan - Thai Sweet and Salty Fruit Dipping Sauce (น้ำปลาหวาน)

Makes about 2 cups
Printable Version

330g of palm sugar (or, as I prefer 165g of palm sugar plus 165g of either brown sugar or unrefined cane sugar)
1/3 cup (80 mL) fish sauce
8g shrimp paste
2 large (46g) shallots, peeled and cut into thin slices lengthwise
66g dried shrimp, divided
Small dried red chilies (I use arbol), to taste

Crush the palm sugar (and cane sugar, if applicable) with a large cleaver or a granite pestle into small chunks. This allows it to melt more quickly and easily.Place the sugar(s) in a medium pot along with the shrimp paste and fish sauce; set the pot over low heat.Keep stirring until everything has melted and come to a gentle boil.Remove the pot from heat and let the syrup cool to about 100°-115°F (43°-47°C); it will also thicken up slightly upon cooling. You should end up with about 1 1/2 cups (360 mL) of sticky sauce that has the consistency of maple syrup.While waiting for the syrup to cool, divide the dried shrimp into two equal portions. Pulverize one portion in a food processor or coffee grinder until you get fluffy, tiny flakes; keep the other portion whole.Stir the dried shrimp and the shallots into the syrup. The residual heat of the syrup will wilt the shallots slightly. And while the moisture from the shallots will thin out the sauce somewhat, the dried shrimp flakes give it body.Crush up with your fingers the amount of dried chilies commensurate with your heat tolerance and stir that in.The sauce is ready to be served with your favorite tart fruits. Provided that you keep the sauce in an air-tight container and don't dip (or, worse, double-dip) the fruit right into the container, the sauce should keep, refrigerated, for a month.

Zucchini "Fish" Cakes with Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce (ทอดมันซูกินี)

Zucchini "Fish" Cakes with Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce
Makes approximately 20 3-inch cakes
Printable Version

2 pounds (~1kg) zucchini
3 large eggs
2 ounces (57g) Thai red curry paste
1 1/2 cups (180g) rice flour
2 teaspoons (12g) salt
2 teaspoons (8g) baking soda
3 kaffir lime leaves, julienned
1/2-3/4 cup plain vegetable oil for frying
1 cup of store-bought or homemade Thai sweet chilli sauce
1/2 cup finely-chopped dry-roasted peanuts

Grate the zucchini coarsely, skin and all. Place the grated zucchini in a large kitchen towel and wring out as much liquid as you possibly can. The crispiness of the zucchini cakes depends on how much liquid you can wring out of the grated zucchini at this point.Place the grated zucchini in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the red curry paste, baking soda, and salt, followed by the eggs, one at a time.Stir in the rice flour and kaffir lime leaves; mix well.In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat up 1/2 cup of oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot (but not smoking), drop the batter into it 1/4 cup at a time. Once one side is brown and crispy, turn over. Transfer the fried zucchini cakes to a paper towel-lined plate. Replenish the oil as necessary.If you're not eating these cakes right away, arrange them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake them at 375°F until they're heated through and the exteriors become crispy again.Serve the warm zucchini cakes with Thai sweet chilli sauce with some peanuts sprinkled on top or mixed in.

Enjoy! (:
 

 

Watermelon with Sweet Dried Fish-Crispy Shallot Dip (Pla Haeng Taeng-Mo ปลาแห้งแตงโม)

One 3/4-pound (~300-400g) whole trout
4 medium (80g) shallots, peeled and sliced very thinly lengthwise
1/3 cup (2.7 fluid ounces or ~70ml) vegetable oil
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons (25g) salt
Watermelon, prepared
Place the trout in a heatproof plate, cover it with a piece of plastic wrap, and steam it in the microwave on high for 7-10 minutes (depending on the wattage of your microwave oven) or until the fish is completely cooked through and flakes easily when tested with a fork. Allow the fish to cool.Once the fish is cool enough to handle, peel off the skin, separate out the meat (you should up with about 180g of cooked fish meat), pick off and discard any big bones, and place the meat in a food processor (a mini-chopper or a mortar would be fine as well). Pulse the fish until the flakes are fine.Transfer the fish flakes to a dry skillet set over medium-low heat. Slowly toast the fish, stirring constantly, until the flakes go from off-white to deep golden brown. This could take up to 30 minutes, depending on the surface area of the skillet (wider means better moisture evaporation). You want the fish flakes to dry completely, so don't rush this process by increasing the heat in hopes of shortening the cooking time.Once the fish is done, remove the skillet from heat. Stir the sugar and salt into it off the heat and set aside. (We don't want the sugar to be entirely melted; we want a bit of it to melt and coat the warm fish flakes while the majority remains intact.)Add the oil and the sliced shallots to another small skillet when the skillet is cold, then set it on medium heat. Stir the shallot pieces around constantly to make sure they're cooked and browned up evenly.Once the shallots are crispy, turn off the heat and immediately transfer the mixture to a heatproof bowl to prevent the residual heat in the pan to cook the shallots further and turn them too dark.Let the shallots cool down, then stir them into the fish mixture along with about a tablespoon of the oil in which the shallots were cooked.Serve the dip with fresh watermelon chunks.The completely cooled dip can be stored for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container at room temperature. To use, it's best to scoop out just the amount you need with a clean spoon. That way, the dip stays fresh longer.
HAPPY NEW YEAR !
Enjoy! (: