Gaaeng Ranjuaan: A sensuous yearning for a remarkably old-fashioned recipe.
Gaaeng Ranjuaan is spicy, sour, sweet and salty beef curry seasoned with no more than fermented shrimp paste chili sauce. It should be served steaming hot, and must possess three distinct flavors, similar to fish Tom Yam soup.
These modest ingredients and an intensely-flavored curry emerge from a story about love, things lost in translation and…leftovers.
Gaaeng Ranjuaan was created by the kitchen masters of Royal households from the uneaten food returned to the kitchen from grand events. Sagely combining pieces of meat and leftover naam prhrik kapi chili relish, the chefs concocted a new dish – forever yearned by all who tasted it.
Fermented shrimp paste (kapi) rests at the base of the Thai culinary tradition. It is widely used in curry pastes, stir-fried recipes and, of course, in chili relishes.
References
Gaeng som recipe: Sour curries are without doubt one of Thai cuisine all-time favorites, free from foreign influence and with many regional variations they present a complex balance of four flavors while using only few ingredients, all find a pleasing harmony in one dish.
There are the sourness of the tamarind paste, the saltiness of the fermented shrimp paste and fish sauce, the natural sweetness of the prawns and the vegetables and of course the peppery heat from the chilies. This easy curry paste is as rich as it is simple; the flavor offers a world of depth in a truly innovative combination of flavors.
สูตรทำข้าวคลุกกะปิของ หม่อมเจ้าจงจิตรถนอม ดิศกุล – Rice Seasoned with Shrimp Paste Recipe – Each of the dish’s components is separately prepared and set aside, and mixed individually for each serving. A pleasant harmony of several flavors is created – complex and profound in taste, the dish is a stunning display of confidence. There are many variations of this dish: I have chosen to publish the version described by Prince Johngjit thanaawm Disagoon. This is the very same version prepared for King Chulalongkorn the Great during his unforgettable trip to Italy.
This old-fashioned Thai coconut curry dish is a simple expression made with ingredients commonly available to Thais, it features steamed mackerels – the fish that Thai people probably love the best and the stems of the lotus flowers – one of Buddhism’s most recognized motifs.
The fish together with peeled lotus stems are boiled in coconut milk, to which a simple yet very aromatic curry paste, made only of white pepper corns, shallots and fermented shrimp paste is added.
The sweet leading sour coconut cream based sauce, enriched and thickened with fragrant freshly roasted peanuts and golden beans are a wonderful coat to dress the sweet shrimp meat. The aromatics are being extracted in every possible way, by roasting, and frying, boiling and reducing, pounding and grounding. All the culinary methods are being fully employed to guarantee an absolute real first class dish.
If you want to start some real Thai cooking going at your home, have the time and access to all the ingredients, than I really want you to try this dish. The building blocks of flavors work so well here and it will open you a great window to see the beginning of what is possible in Thai cuisine.
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