Wok-tossed catfish with galangal and green peppercorns

By: Luke Nguyen
From: Luke Nguyen's Greater Mekong
Serves: 4
Photographer: Stuart Scott

This recipe also belongs to Mr Ta, the great fisherman from Chiang Khong who helped me catch a 12 kg catfish from the Mekong River. And it was he who introduced me to finger root, known in Thailand as 'krachai'. This rhizome gets its name from its shape, as it looks like many little fingers. It belongs to the same family as ginger and galangal, but is much milder in flavour. If you can’t get fresh finger root, you can find it preserved in jars at your local Asian market.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
60ml	vegetable oil
500g	catfish or silver perch fillets, cut into 2.5 cm pieces
2	lemongrass stems, finely chopped, white part only
5 cm piece	fresh galangal, peeled and finely sliced
8	finger roots, peeled and finely sliced, (alternatively, use some additional fresh galangal or young ginger)
3	garlic cloves, finely chopped
1	onion, cut into wedges
10	whole fresh green peppercorns
6	kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced
2	long red chillies, finely sliced
2 tablespoons	fish sauce
2 teaspoons	oyster sauce
2 teaspoons	sugar
1 tablespoon	lime juice
1 handful	thai basil leaves
	steamed jasmine rice, to serve

Method

Add the vegetable oil to a wok and heat to 180°C, or until a cube of bread dropped into the oil browns in 15seconds.
Fry the fish, in two batches, for 3–4 minutes, or until crisp and golden. Remove from the oil and drain on papertowels.
Transfer the hot oil to a metal container to re-use in other recipes, reserving a tablespoon of oil in the wok.
Now add the lemongrass, galangal, finger root, garlic and onion to the wok. Stir-fry for 2 minutes over medium–high heat, or until fragrant.
Return the fish to the wok. Add the peppercorns, kaffir lime leaf slices, chilli, fish sauce, oyster sauce and sugar, then stir-fry for a further 3 minutes.
Sprinkle with the lime juice and transfer to a serving plate. Garnish with the basil and serve with steamed jasmine rice.