Photograph of the finished Tom klong pla krob

Thailand · Canh chua cá khô nướng Tom klong

Tom klong pla krob

40 min Hands-on time
MediumDifficulty
6 stepsSteps
Serves 4 Amounts follow along 4

What to get ready

  • Photograph of Dried snakehead fish Dried snakehead fish 1.6 lb
  • Photograph of Dried chillies Dried chillies 2.1 oz
  • Photograph of Shallots Shallots 2
  • Photograph of Lemongrass Lemongrass 5.6 oz
  • Photograph of Galangal Galangal 4.2 oz
  • Photograph of Sour tamarind Sour tamarind 5.6 oz
  • Photograph of Thai lime leaves Thai lime leaves 32 leaves
  • Photograph of Fish sauce Fish sauce ⅓ cup
  • Photograph of Straw mushrooms Straw mushrooms 1.1 lb
  • Photograph of Sawtooth coriander Sawtooth coriander 3.5 oz

Method

  1. 1 Grill the dried fish over charcoal or in a dry pan for 5 minutes until it has a smoky aroma, then tear it into small pieces.
  2. 2 Grill the dried chilies, red onions, lemongrass, and galangal over the stove until the outer skin is charred black.
  3. 3 The key is to dry-roast all the ingredients before cooking; tom klong is a smoky-flavored soup.
  4. 4 Grind dried chilies and roasted shallots into a coarse paste.
  5. 5 Boil water with lemongrass and roasted galangal for 8 minutes, then pour in tamarind juice and season with fish sauce.
  6. 6 Add the dried fish, straw mushrooms, and the pounded mixture and cook for 5 minutes, then sprinkle with lime leaves and sawtooth coriander.

With an appliance

  • Oven 42 min

    Replace steps 1–2: arrange dried fish, chili peppers, onions, lemongrass, and galangal on the rack above the oven at 230 degrees for 8 minutes, rotating the tray at the 4th minute; this is about 3 minutes longer than pan-frying a batch, but the ingredients will be evenly browned without having to turn each piece, and the smoky flavor will be milder. The pounding and soup-making steps remain the same.

Start cooking