'Fresh' fermented fish being sold at a market

It is indeed a very old component of South-East Asian cuisine, probably dating from pre-historic times. Fermented fish is made by salting fresh water fish, then drying it in the sun for several days. After that, it is fermented with rice, which may be boiled or roasted. As you might imagine, the smell is “distinctive” to say the least. But as the British Minister-Resident Ernest Satow noted in the journal of his trip to Northern Siam more than 100 years ago:

“… Every nation eats something offensive to the nostrils or palate of its neighbours.

“The Japanese have a pickled radish-turnip; the Chinese have salted eggs, water chestnuts [?], and a variety of other things that no European would look at; Germans have sauerkraut; Frenchmen eat frogs and snails; all Europeans have cheese, especially Limburg, some of which I would not sit in the same room with for two minutes for any consideration; the Malays have balachang, the Burmese gnapi, and the Siamese kapi – to say nothing of the offensive durian fruit so common and so highly prized in Indo-China and the Malay Archipelago. So we must not be too hard on the poor Laos for liking plara, as their particular form of high food is called.”

Satow made these comments after recounting how his rest at camp one night was “much disturbed by an abominable odour, which proved to emanate from a preparation of rotten fish that was maturing on a sand bank.” He also noted that the concoction “serves as a relish for their otherwise insipid food.”

Fermented fish is a traditional ingredient in many recipes, especially those of North-Eastern Thai origin, such as dipping sauces, soup bug-mee – a sort of salad made with jackfruit and marinated fish – and variations on the popular green papaya salad called som tam. Around northern Thailand, fermented fish is used in another one of the north’s famous chilli dips, tellingly named “red eye chili dip”. Fermented fish also appears in a sort of salad made with brinjal eggplants.

Although Asian cuisines seem to be the only ones that still makes extensive use of fish-based seasoning, it was one a widely used ingredient throughout the old world. The Greeks and Romans called it garum and used it in almost every recipe dating back to the sixth to seventh century B.C. It might have fallen out of favour in the west, in part, due to the preparation’s potential to kill those who eat it if the sauce has not been handled properly during fermentation.

The reason fish sauce and related products continue to be used as such a fundamental part of so many cuisines is the presence in the sauce of high levels of an amino acid called glutamate. Glutamate is a very common amino acid, perhaps one of the most common in nature. It especially occurs in high levels in fermented products such as fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce and even Vegemite. In 1908, a Japanese scientist named Kikunae Ikada discovered that glutamate made things taste better. The more glutamate a food had, the better it tasted. Thus was monosodium glutamate, more commonly known as MSG, born.

Instant noodles come in a wide variety of flavors – enough to fill an entire aisle at most supermarkets – including tom yam, seasoned pork and duck. For the most part, the noodles themselves are dried egg noodles, ba-mee in Thai, but you will also find a few styles of glass and rice noodles as well.

While the various flavors are nice, and I usually have one or two of them around, I also like to use plain noodles and flavor them myself. This recipe is based on a Singapore brand I’ve tried and quite like, but it’s hard to find in Bangkok so I created my own version. Whether using a flavored brand or unflavored generic noodles, I always have some vegetables as well as some cooked ground pork to add into the soup to give it more flavor and substance. Just noodles is rather dull.

Black Pepper Noodles

This vegetarian version is quite good, and will probably have enough ‘meaty’ taste to satisfy non-vegetarians. Broccoli and baby corn are my favorite vegetables to keep around, but asparagus, carrots and others are good. The meaty taste comes from the mushrooms, which I purchase dry. If using fresh ones, they’ll need less cooking. I prefer fresh ground pepper for this recipe.

Ingredients

Preparation Method

• Bring a small amount (about one cup) of water to a boil in a small saucepan.
• Add the garlic, baby corn and shiitake mushrooms.
• Once the mushrooms have softened, add the noodles.
• While the noodles are cooking, stir together the black pepper, soy sauce and sesame oil in a small bowl.
• As soon as the noodles have softened completely, stir in the broccoli. I prefer broccoli that is only lightly cooked, so as soon as the colors darken, remove the pan from the heat and pour off any excess water.
• Stir the pepper mixture into the cooked noodles, mixing thoroughly, and then transfer them to a serving bowl.

Freshly picked cabbages waiting to be taken to market

Although the more lettuce-like Chinese cabbage is more common, the hard-headed type of cabbage is also seen in the markets. Although the cabbage probably originated in Asia, it wasn’t until after the Celts introduced it to Europe that the hard-headed variety was developed, sometime during the middle ages. Cabbage was definitely known to the Egyptians, who would eat large quantities of the vegetables before a night of drinking in the belief that it would allow them to drink more without feeling the effects. The Greeks and Romans apparently believed that cabbages could cure just about any ailment. For their part, traditional Thai wisdom has it that cabbages are a powerful aphrodisiac, hence the unusual name of one of Bangkok’s popular restaurants, Cabbages & Condoms, which is run by the Population Development Association.
 

Chinese cabbage on display in a market stall

Chinese cabbage grows in an elongated head that is rather loosely gathered compared to the hard headed cabbages typically found in western supermarkets. The leaves have a strong centre stalk, and closely resemble romaine lettuce. The edge of the leaves usually have only the merest hint of green tint, with the rest being almost snow white. The shape makes an excellent spoon for eating red chilli dip.

In western supermarkets, Chinese cabbage may be labelled as bok choy or siew choy. In Korea, Chinese cabbage is the main ingredients in kim chee, a pickled vegetable that can be fiery hot. Thais will also pickle cabbage, usually using simply water from washing rice.

Chinese cabbage does indeed originate in China, where it has probably been cultivated for many centuries. Chinese traders transplanted the vegetable to their business communities throughout South-east Asia, although it doesn’t appear that the locals in places such as Malaysia and Thailand starting using Chinese cabbage in their own cuisines until the last few hundred years.

I still had almost all the ingredients for the marinade of the ‘Korean’ beef dish, except the spring onions. That was a good marinade, so I decided to use some finely chopped kaffir leaves in place of the spring onions and marinate the chicken.

The mushrooms I decided to sauté in some olive oil, butter and leftover coriander. I added a bit of baby corn and broccoli, which I also had on hand.

Chicken Kaffir with sauteed mushrooms

On the whole, it turned out rather well. The one mistake I made was not filleting the chicken breast, so it took forever to cook and the marinate had more or less caramelized by the time it did. Other than that, it turned out well. This recipe would make two light meals.

Ingredients

Vegetables

Preparation Method

• Mix all of the main ingredients except the chicken together in a bowl.
• Add the chicken to the mix and make sure it gets coated well. Marinate the chicken in the sauce for at least one hour in the refrigerator.
• Just before you’re ready to cook the chicken, you can prepare the vegetables. Heat the butter and olive oil in a skillet. Add the mushrooms, baby corn and coriander. Sauté until the mushrooms begin to brown slightly, and then add the broccoli. The broccoli will take just a few seconds to turn dark green, which for me means it’s cooked just right. Spoon the vegetables onto a plate or serving dish.
• Remove the marinated chicken from the refrigerator and cook it in a hot skillet. Turn it and make sure it’s cooked through. Just as it’s getting done, you can add any marinade left to the skillet, and it will reduce quickly to a nice dark brown sauce.
• Transfer the cooked chicken to the plate along side the vegetables.

Fried Pork Skins

But when it comes to deciding between “good for you” and “tastes good” delicious wins out almost every time. That almost certainly explains the popularity of fried pork skins, called kap moo in Thai. This speciality of Chiang Mai is made with pig skin cut in strips, cleaned and dried for a few days, then deep fried in hot oil, which puffs up the skins to resemble Styrofoam.

The Anusarn market is full of stalls selling freshly fried pork skins. You can see Thais visiting Chiang Mai purchasing large bags as big as bedroom pillows full of this delicacy. The market gets in full swing at night, just like the night bazaar.

In recounting his visit to Chiang Mai in 1885 and 1886, the British Resident Manager Ernest Satow recounts an encounter with something like today’s fried pork skin:

“On the 15th of January, I dined with the chief … Fried wafers of cow and of buffalo-hide were served with a sauce composed of fermented tea-leaves, pork fat, onions, and a fourth ingredient which I do not recollect. A pile of these wafers was placed between the chief and myself, and we dipped by turns into the same sauce-bowl. He was evidently pleased to find that I could eat them. You can offer no more delicate flattery to an oriental than to partake of his native food. Europeans, or at least Englishmen, generally turn up their noses and call it ‘beastly’, which is undiplomatic conduct to say the least of it. Though rather greasy, these preparations of skin were not unpalatable, especially a spongy variety which was well toasted.”

These days, the favoured sauce in which to dip your fried pork skins is a fiery hot chili dip made with Chiang Mai chilies.

Chicken and Galangal Soup

The first part of the Thai name, tom ka, simply means “boiled galangal” while gai is the Thai word for chicken. Although the meat most commonly used in this soup is chicken, tom ka can also be made with fish, shellfish and other poultry, but the somewhat delicate flavour doesn’t hold up well against beef or pork.

As with several other Thai dishes, your main challenge here, aside from the herbs and spices, will be the straw mushrooms. Even in Bangkok, they seem to be disappearing from the markets in favor of sturdier ‘foreign’ varieties. For the photo, I had to resort to canned mushrooms, which better approximate the taste and texture that other types of fresh ones.

Ingredients

Preparation Method

• Combine coconut milk, Kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and galangal in a pot and bring to a boil.
• Add chicken pieces and mushrooms, and return the mixture to a boil.
• Add remaining ingredients: Chicken stock, fish sauce, lime juice, white pepper and roasted chili sauce.
• Pour into serving bowl and garnish with a few leaves of coriander.

Chinese Chives

Chinese chives came into use in Chinese cooking around 1000 B.C. during the Chou dynasty. Even today, for the people of Huizhou in China’s Guangdong province, garlic chives hold an important place. On the day of lixia, which marks the beginning of summer and the time to sow their fields, the people will eat a breakfast of rice, fried eggs and Chinese chives. To them, the Chinese word for chives sounds the same as the word for ‘ever-lasting’, so the meal symbolizes permanent happiness.
 

Bitter Gourd

In Thailand, the most common use of the bitter gourd is to hollow it out by removing the seeds and inner membrane, then stuffing it with chopped pork and cooking it in a clear soup (gaeng jood). The meat and soup help to reduce the bitterness, but not always enough to make it palpable to western tastes. To further reduce the bitterness, most recipes recommend boiling the gourds in salted water first.

Thais believe the gourd, and soup made with it, is good for you. They highly recommend bitter gourd soup to anyone who might feel a cold coming on. This seems to follow a folk belief that seems to be prevalent throughout the world: Anything that tastes bad must be good for you. There may be some scientific foundation for at least some of their beliefs. The bitter gourd is high in calcium, phosphorous and vitamin C.
 

Chiang Mai sausage meatballs

Since most people don’t have sausage making equipment in their home, I’ve adapted the recipe to make meatballs instead. These work very well as an hors d’oeuvre with cocktails or as one of the many ‘finger foods’ forming a kahn toke style dinner. Sai-ooa is one of many popular ‘drinking foods’ that Thais enjoy with beer.

The sausage is traditionally made with pork, but it can also be found made with chicken. I’ve tried a vegetarian version, once.

Ingredients

Curry Paste

Preparation Method

• Make the curry paste by pounding all the ingredients together with a mortar and pestle to form a thick paste. Of course, you can do it the “easy way” and use a food processor.
• Mix the ground pork with the soy sauces and prepared curry paste. Sprinkle the shredded kaffir lime leaves over the mixture, pour in the water and mix thoroughly.
• Form the meat into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Arrange on a lightly oiled cookie sheet.
• Bake in a pre-heated 220°C oven for about 25 minutes.