Pad Prik Khing Pla Tort (Dry Red Curry of Crispy Salmon)

Name: Pad Prik Khing Pla Tort (Dry Red Curry of Crispy Salmon)
Yield: Serves 2
Ingredients: 10 dried long red chiles, seeded and soaked in cold water until soft; 1 tsp. salt; 2 Tbsp. thinly sliced lemongrass, root and outer husks removed; 2 Tbsp. chopped galangal; 1 Tbsp. chopped coriander (cilantro) root or coriander stem; 2 Tbsp. chopped banana shallot; 2 Tbsp. chopped garlic; 4 Tbsp. dried shrimp, soaked until tender and drained well; 1 Tbsp. fish sauce; ½ tsp. superfine sugar; 160 g (5½ oz.) salmon, fillet with skin on, sliced into 1½-inch chunks; Vegetable oil, for deep-frying; 3 Tbsp. rendered pork fat or vegetable oil; 2 Tbsp. red curry paste (see above); 1 Tbsp. palm or brown sugar; 3 makrut lime leaves (fresh or frozen), torn, plus 2 extra, finely shredded, to serve; 2 Tbsp. green peppercorn sprigs; 2 Tbsp. fine green beans, cut into ¾-inch lengths; 1 long red chile, sliced on the diagonal into ½-inch thick pieces; 1 Tbsp. sliced fingerroot (use the long slender part), optional

By John Chantarasak

November 29, 2023

Stir fry dry red curry with crispy salmon and vegetables.

Photo by Maureen M. Evans

The name pad prik khing indicates that this is a chile (prik) stir-fry (pad) with ginger (khing). The first two assumptions are correct, but I’ve never come across a recipe for pad prik khing that includes ginger. Instead, this is a fragrant Thai stir-fry or dry curry that is rich in flavor, due to the curry paste commonly being cooked out in rendered pork fat. Nowadays, most Thai cooks reach for a shop-bought red curry paste to cook this dish, and if you wish to do the same instead of making your own curry paste as detailed below, then please do. My only recommendation would be that you adjust store-bought curry paste slightly by pounding through some dried shrimp, as these will give the paste the extra dimension and richness needed for this dish.

This recipe was excerpted from ‘Kin Thai’ by John Chantarasak. Buy the full book on Amazon.