This curry includes a greater-than-usual quantity of aromatics used over three stages. First, the eel is cleaned and sliced into segments; then it is fried with a generous amount of lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves and shallots. These help to counter its muddy and somewhat iron-like odor, which disappears along with the liquids and the aromatics.
Second, the eel is cooked in a rich coconut-based red curry strengthened with fingerroot, bitter ginger (gra theuu, กระทือ), sand ginger (bpraw haawm, เปราะหอม), coriander seeds and cumin seeds. The curry paste is thoroughly fried with coconut cream until it is cooked, and its flavors rounded down to a more homogenous flavor identity.
And in the third stage, a spicy scented layer – with a pungent, peppery-camphor touch – is produced by using the same fresh rhizomes, along with Thai basil flowers and leaves, fresh peppercorns and fresh young light-green long chilies.
This recipe is adapted from the vintage book: “Gap Khaao O:H Chaa Roht” by Ging Ga Nohk) (กับข้าวโอชารส โดย กิ่งกนก – กาญจนาภา พ.ศ. 2485). This rare book was written in 1942 during WWII, a period of global turmoil in which Thailand was invaded by the Japanese. That same year marked a decade from the ending of absolute monarchy rule in 1932, and one generation away from the peak of the Siamese culinary renaissance that flourished in the court of King Rama V (1868-1910): a nostalgic era for its children who are still with us to remember and reflect on those times.
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The Asian Swamp Eel – Bplaa Lai (ปลาไหล) or Iian (เอี่ยน)
A Chinese tale describes a legendary minister who thought he was an eel. When the land flooded with water, the people believed that this minister had caused the deluge so he could swim away.
There are a number of methods for catching these slippery, slimy, snakelike swimmers: the eel’s smooth skin also lets it slither over land, so the easiest methods involve using baskets, a trap or a net – or simply just digging in the drying mud and scaring them out.
These days, some might consider eel an unusual meat, or even a savage hardcore upcountry food, but the fact is that eel in culinary tradition is truly ancient. The eel is very much enjoyed by those from all walks of life – farmers in the fields, gentlemen in the cities and royalty in the palace – all love eels cooked in many different ways. Eel, widely available and nutrient-rich, was an important protein source for people living in Southeast Asia’s rice growing communities, where their diet was composed mainly of fish and small water creatures – animals that could be caught in the rice fields, in stagnant waters or shallow wetlands, in marshes, ditches, canals, streams, rivers, reservoirs, ponds and lakes – places where this night feeder gorged itself on the same prey.
Dark-olive or brown in color, and occasionally speckled with bright yellow, black and gold spots, the eel is considered a phallic symbol with erotic connotations; despite being hermaphroditic itself, all young eels are born females, with some evolving into males as they mature.
Slippery as an eel
Today you can buy a cleaned eel at the markets, or use scrub pads to scrape the slippery mucus from its skin. In the old days, however, preparing the eel required rubbing it with various plant leaves or rice husks (glaaep, แกลบ), with the most common being the bai khaawy ruut leaves (Streblus asper, ใบข่อยรูด).
“Slippery as an eel” is an English-language idiom referring to an individual who continuously escapes responsibility or culpability. The Thai idiom,“Hate [lizard] [but] eat its eggs; hate eel [but] [enjoy] eating the curry” implies an individual who benefits from someone they dislike (gliiat dtuaa gin khai gliiat bplaa lai gin naam gaaeng, เกลียดตัวกินไข่ เกลียดปลาไหลกินน้ำแกง).
Early evidence of Thai recipes containing eel
Maawm Sohm Jeen cooks an eel simple clear curry (bplaa lai dtohm bpraeht, ปลาไหลต้มเปรต) in her 1890 (2433 BE, 109RE) cookbook “Tam Raa Gap Khao” (ตำรากับเข้า).
Lady Plean Passakornrawong cooks eel curry (gaaeng phet bplaa lai, แกงปลาไหล) in her 1908 cookbook, “Maae Khruaa Huaa Bpaa (แม่ครัวหัวป่าก์)”.
Maawm Luaang Neuuang Ninrat (หม่อมหลวงเนื่อง นิลรัตน์), a former chef at the residence of Phra Wimaadaa Thuuhr, replaces eel with catfish and cooks a catfish curry in the style of an eel curry (gaaeng bplaa dook yaang bplaa lai, แกงปลาดุกอย่างปลาไหล
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Ingredients
- 3 cups Asian swamp eel (ปลาไหลนา) cut into 2 cm thick slices
- 2-3 cups coconut cream (หัวกะทิ)
- 1/2 – 1 cups coconut milk (หางกะทิ)
- 1/2 – 1 cups water (น้ำเปล่า)
- 1/4 cup kaffir lime leaves (ใบมะกรูด)
- 2 teaspoons palm sugar (น้ำตาลมะพร้าว)
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce (น้ำปลา)
- 1/2 cup shampoo (bitter) ginger (กระทือ) thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon fresh sand ginger (เปราะหอมสด) thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup fingerroot (krachai) (กระชาย) thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup fresh peppercorns (พริกไทยอ่อน)
- 1/2 tablespoon ground dried chili (พริกป่น)
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds (malet phak chee) (เมล็ดผักชี) (S2) roasted and grounded
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (malet yeeraa) (เมล็ดยี่หร่า) (S3) roasted and grounded
- 1 cup young green long chili (phrik noom) (พริกหนุ่ม)
- 2 cups sand ginger leaves (ใบเปราะหอม) thinly sliced
- 2-3 cups Thai basil (ใบโหระพา)
To prepare the eel
- 1/4 cup kaffir lime leaves (ใบมะกรูด)
- 4 lemongrass (ตะไคร้)
- 2 galangal (ข่า)
- 1/2 cup shallots (หอมแดง) peeled
Red Curry Paste
- 1/2 cup dried red long chili (phrik chee fa) (พริกชี้ฟ้าแห้ง) deseeded and finely sliced
- 1/2 cup lemongrass (ตะไคร้) thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon galangal (ข่า) thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup fingerroot (krachai) (กระชาย) thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon sand ginger (เปราะหอม)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons shampoo (bitter) ginger (กระทือ)
- 2 tablespoons kaffir lime zest (ผิวมะกรูด)
- 1/3 cup Thai garlic (กระเทียมไทย) thinly sliced
- 4 tablespoons shallots (หอมแดง) finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds (malet phak chee) (เมล็ดผักชี) (S2) roasted and grounded
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (malet yeeraa) (เมล็ดยี่หร่า) (S3) roasted and grounded
- 1 tablespoon fermented shrimp paste (kapi)(กะปิย่างไฟ)
Fresh Aromatic Paste
- 2 tablespoons fresh bird’s eye chili (kee noo suan) (พริกขี้หนูสวนสด)
- 1/2 cup fresh red and green Thai bird’s eye chilies (phrik kee noo) (พริกขี้หนูแดง และ เขียว)
- 1 tablespoon fingerroot (krachai) (กระชาย) finely sliced
- 1 tablespoon fresh sand ginger (เปราะหอมสด)
- 1 tablespoon shampoo (bitter) ginger (กระทือ)
- 2 tablespoons Thai basil flowers (ดอกโหระพา)
Topping
- coconut cream (หัวกะทิ)
- kaffir lime leaves (ใบมะกรูด)
- fresh sand ginger (เปราะหอมสด)
- shampoo (bitter) ginger (กระทือ)
Instructions
- A visual overview of the red curry paste ingredients.
- Pound all the ingredients into a smooth paste.
- Add kapi (fermented shrimp paste); mix and set aside.
- A visual overview of the fresh curry paste ingredients – clockwise: small bird’s eye chilies, fingerroot, bitter ginger, red and green chili peppers, Thai basil flowers, sand ginger cubes.
- In a pestle and mortar, pound the fresh curry paste ingredients into a rough paste. Set aside.
- A visual overview of the fresh ingredients used in the curry.
- Thinly sliced sand ginger leaves. Set aside.
- Clean the eel, and cut it into 2cm-thick segments.
- Place the shallots and aromatics in a wok, over medium heat.
- Add the eel, and fry until the eel begins to release fluids and its meat is cooked.
- Discard the cooking fluids and the aromatics, and set the cooked eel meat aside.
- In a cooking pot, heat the coconut cream until it breaks (cracked), and oil appears.
- Add the red curry paste.
- Fry the curry paste in the cracked coconut, gradually adding more coconut cream.
- Add ground roasted cumin seeds and ground roasted coriander seeds.
- Add kaffir lime leaves.
- Season with palm sugar.
- Add fish sauce.
- The curry paste is ready when all the coconut cream has been incorporated, and red oil floats on top.
- Add coconut milk.
- Mix gently, and let the eel meat absorb the curry flavors.
- Add fingerroot, bitter ginger and sand ginger.
- Add a second batch of kaffir lime leaves.
- Add fresh peppercorns.
- Mix everything.
- Season again with the dry spices (ground dry chilies, ground cumin and ground coriander).
- Add the fresh curry paste.
- Add the light green young chilies and Thai basil flowers.
- Add Thai basil.
- Mix.
- Serve.
Perfumed Braised Beef and Potato Curry with Three Gingers, Thai Basil and Bitter Orange (แกงเนื้อใส่เปราะหอมสดและส้มซ่า; Gaaeng Neuua Sai Bpraw Haawm Soht Lae Sohm Saa)
Discovered in a memorial book for the funeral of SubLt. Soophoht Jeungpraphaa (ร.ต. สุพจน์ จึงประภา) (1925-1966), this beef and potato curry dish unites two distinct curry styles: Massaman curry, known for its sweet and warming complexity of dry spices, punctuated by the vibrancy of bitter orange juice; and gaaeng phet (แกงเผ็ด) spicy curry, dominated by a basil herbal identity. The recipe maintains a sense of traditional elegance despite the startlingly unusual culinary fusion; as these two cooking styles are woven together, their spiced comfort, earthy warmth, citrusy freshness, and cool herbaceous notes meld in a gentle refinement. Drawing upon familiar and novel elements, this curry is both comforting and stimulating.
Massaman curry typically presents as a deep, rich dish. Its unique flavor profile is derived predominantly from a range of dry spices that point to its Persian-inspired roots in Siamese cuisine, along with a curry paste that exudes a sense of freshness. The dried chilis are roasted to deepen their color; the rest of the ingredients, such as the shallots, garlic and dry spices, are roasted too, individually, before being pounded into the paste. Conversely, the gaaeng phet (แกงเผ็ด) curry integrates dry spices more sparingly and is known for flavor qualities that are based on a phrik khing (พริกขิง) paste made of fresh aromatics and a basil herbal identity.
Perfumed Muslim-style Curry of Fresh Chilies with Beef (แกงเขียวหวานเนื้อทรงเครื่อง; Gaaeng Khiaao Waan Neuua Sohng Khreuuang)
The Indian and Muslim cuisines present distinct approaches to using dried spices in curries, both of which influence Siamese cuisine in different ways. Indian-inspired Siamese curries spotlight chilies for their vibrant color, fragrance, flavor and heat, while spices like cumin and coriander play a supporting role. The spices complement and temper the chilies’ intensity, creating a rounded, multi-layered flavor profile; nonetheless, the chilies remain the star ingredient, gently complemented by the spices.
Conversely, Muslim-influenced curries, such as massaman curry, prioritize spices over chilies. Spices like cardamom, nutmeg and mace take center stage, while the chilies provide subtle background heat rather than being the primary flavor. In these curries, the focus is on the rich, warm and complex aromas created by the blend of spices, which is a defining characteristic of many Muslim dishes.
Moreover, Siamese cuisine favors using rehydrated dried chilies in curries for their depth; this depth is highly appreciated, along with the complexity, and comparatively milder heat of the rehydrated dried chilies. As well, the harsh grassy notes of fresh chilies are not favored; they’re referred to in Thai as “green rank” or “men khiaao (เหม็นเขียว)”. Muslim curries often use fresh green chilies, tempering their vibrant, grassy taste with dry spices and thus shifting the flavor from bright and fresh to more subdued and earthy tones, resulting in a dish that is perceived to be layered, despite the burst of fresh chilies.
Thai Green Curry with Roasted Duck and Young Chilies (แกงเขียวหวานเป็ดย่าง ; gaaeng khiaao waan bpet yang)
Green curry, with its mellow, creamy green color and rich coconut base, has both fresh and mature flavors. Like new growth on plants, it brings brightness, youthfulness, spring and rebirth to the meltdown of flavors created in the curry paste.
The green curry paste uses mainly the same standard ingredients as Thai spicy-red curry paste: lemongrass, coriander roots, kaffir lime zest, galangal, garlic, shallots, white peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, salt and kapi.
Beef Phanaeng Curry and Ancient Grilled Phanaeng Chicken Curry (พะแนงเนื้อ และ ไก่ผะแนง จากตำราอาหารที่เก่าสุดในสยาม)
Breaking news: The oldest Thai cookbook, as well as history’s first-ever recorded recipe for Phanaeng curry, are revealed for the first time on Thaifoodmaster.com – A 126-year-old cookbook written by one of Siam’s most revered singers, Maawm Sohm Jeen (Raa Chaa Noopraphan) (หม่อมซ่มจีน, ราชานุประพันธุ์), has been rediscovered, offering a unique glimpse into the culinary repertoire of 19th-century Siam. In this chapter we examine the different forms of phanaeng curry from the 1800s to the present day, as we reconstruct the 19th-century version and craft step-by-step a traditional beef phanaeng curry.
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