Since I started eating fish a couple of months ago, Ted's been keen to try something seafoody from David Thompson's Thai Food, since we've previously been limited to the relatively few vegetarian recipes (or modifications of the meaty ones). Despite the fact that I've managed to update twice today, I am not massively time-rich at the moment, so we chose a simple boiled curry, which took about half an hour from start to finish to produce.

The curry sauce is quite thin, and tastes, as Thompson says, salty, sour and hot. It's a very versatile recipe: he lists the various fish and vegetables which can be included, and in the recipe on the previous page, for sour orange curry of salted fish, watermelon rind and egg, describes a series of other variations found in Thai markets. Tonight I used local trout for the fish, and sliced boiled bamboo shoots, chinese greens, and quartered apple eggplants for the vegetables. The final dish was very fishy, more so than any other seafood I've tried in the last couple of months, but the combination with the sour flavours and scents was delicious.

First make the curry paste. Deseed the chillies, soak them in hot water for 5-10 minutes, then drain and chop. Pound in a heavy mortar and pestle with the pinch of salt until smooth. Add the galangal and pound again, and then do the same with the shallot. Finally, add the shrimp paste and combine well. Set aside, but do not remove from the mortar.

Bring the stock to the boil, then add about a third of the fish. Simmer briefly until it is cooked, then remove. Flake the cooked fish into the mortar and work it into the curry paste - this will thicken the curry.

Return the stock to the boil, and add the tamarind water, sugar, fish sauce and curry paste. Bring back to the boil once again, then add the vegetables according to their cooking time. Finally, add the remainder of the fish, cut into pieces, and simmer for a further minute or two until it is cooked.

9 September 2004