Khao Tom Pla
Excerpted from Kalaya's Southern Thai Kitchen: A Cookbook
Yield:
4
rice soup with fish & shrimp
There is something so comforting about rice soup. This dish is so easy to make, especially if you have leftover cooked rice, and the perfect way to settle an empty stomach between the calming ginger, chicken broth, mild tender fish and shrimp, soft rice, and silky poached eggs. The famous soup places in Southern Thailand really focus on the quality of the broth, and have passed their recipe down for generations. In your house, you may use a good-quality storebought chicken broth, and while we eat this for breakfast, you can find your own tradition and make this any time you want. This is a family friendly dish that everyone will love (but it can also cure a hangover).
Kalaya's Southern Thai Kitchen: A Cookbook by Nok Suntaranon with Natalie Jesionka
Bring the bold, spicy, beautiful world of Southern Thai cooking to your kitchen through 100 recipes and stories from the James Beard Award–winning chef and celebrated ambassador of Thai food in the U.S.
Hardcover
Khao Tom Pla
- 1 pound red snapper, monkfish, halibut, or swordfish fillets, skinned
- 4 cups Chicken Broth
- 1 1⁄2 cups jasmine rice
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt, or to taste
- 4 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed
For Serving
- Garlic Oil
- Thinly sliced scallions
- Chopped fresh cilantro
- 4 soft-poached eggs
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced peeled fresh ginger
- 1 stalk Chinese celery, or
- 1 small regular celery stalk with leaves, very thinly sliced
- Ground white pepper
- Soy sauce
- Chili and Vinegar Relish
Prik Dong
- 1 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1⁄2 cup thinly sliced red long hot chilies or jalapeños (add a few slices of ghost pepper or habanero if you like it extra spicy)
- 2 to 3 teaspoons kosher salt
Fried Garlic and Garlic Oil
- 1⁄2 cup vegetable oil
- 7 large garlic cloves, very thinly sliced, or 1⁄4 cup finely chopped garlic (about 10 cloves)
Khao Tom Pla
- Slice the fish on an angle into 4-inch-long strips.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the chicken broth and rice and bring to a boil over mediumhigh heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice grains are soft but intact, 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in the salt; if your broth is salty to begin with, just add a little and taste first. Drain the rice in a fine-mesh sieve set over a heatproof bowl, reserving the broth. Divide the rice among four bowls.
- Return the cooking liquid to the saucepan and set over medium-low heat. Add the fish and shrimp and cook just until the fish and shrimp are firm and opaque, about 3 minutes.
- To serve: Use a slotted spoon to divide the fish and shrimp equally among the individual bowls. Ladle the broth over top, drizzle each bowl with a little garlic oil, and sprinkle with scallions and cilantro. Add a poached egg to each bowl. Top with the fresh ginger and celery and a pinch of white pepper. Serve with soy sauce and prik dong for extra seasoning.
Prik Dong
- Pour the vinegar into a glass jar or other airtight container, add the chilies and salt, and stir well. Let sit at room temperature or in the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving. The condiment will be freshest kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Fried Garlic and Garlic Oil
- Line a plate with paper towels and place it within arm’s reach of the stove. Pour the vegetable oil into a small saucepan and place it over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook. The garlic will sizzle and eventually change color; this will take 2 to 5 minutes, depending on how small the garlic is cut. Stir frequently. When most of the slices are just light golden brown, turn off the heat and stir the garlic vigorously until all the bits are evenly browned. Be careful because it can burn easily; you don’t want it to turn dark brown. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the garlic to the paper towels. Use the fried garlic immediately or store in an airtight container. Reserve the garlic oil in a small jar in the fridge for future use. Both will keep a long time, but you will eat them before they go stale.
Nok Suntaranon is the chef and owner of Kalaya, a celebrated Thai restaurant in Philadelphia. A former flight attendant, Nok reinvented herself at age fifty to become a James Beard Award–winning chef. Kalaya was named by Esquire magazine as its Best New Restaurant and has topped lists from The Philadelphia Inquirer and Eater Philly.
Kalaya's Southern Thai Kitchen: A Cookbook
Nok Suntaranon with Natalie JesionkaNatalie Jesionka is a journalist who writes about food, community, and social impact. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Toronto Star, National Post, Canadian Press, and Forbes. She served as a Fulbright scholar in Northern Thailand and is a Paul and Daisy Soros fellow for New Americans.
Kalaya's Southern Thai Kitchen: A Cookbook
Nok Suntaranon with Natalie Jesionka
