This isn't a crispy soup, it's a soup made with crispy fish.
Specifically pla krop (pronounced 'plah grob' with the 'o' in krop
being something between a short o sound an a 'au' sound (a bit like
saying 'crab' when you have a very nasal cold)) is deep fried catfish.
The catfish is fried whole in very hot oil (smoking peanut oil), so the
usual cautions and caveats apply. Also for the proper flavor it should
be fried with the head on - in Thailand it is fried before it is cleaned
and trimmed for the second stage of cooking. You may of course clean and
fillet the fish first.
The very hot oil ensures that only the outside of the fish is
crunchy-crisp, and the inside is not reduced to concrete hardness!
If you prefer this dish can be made with salmon, trout, or sea bass.
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Ingredients
one catfish, to yield about half a pound of catfish pieces.
6 thin slices of kha (galangal)
6 thin slices of khing (ginger)
4 hom daeng (shallots - purple onions)
6-8 prik chi fa haeng (dried red Thai jalapenas)
4 kratiem (cloves of garlic - with skins)
2-3 stalks of takrai (lemon grass or citronella), cut in 2" pieces
half a cup of nam pla (fish sauce)
half a cup of nam som makham (tamarind juice)
method.
1: Deep fry the catfish whole in very hot oil until the skin is very
crisp.
Remove and drain.
When cool enough to handle, remove the head and the tail (don't waste it
- it can be added to your fish stock pot, or fed to the cat), then break
the rest into large bite sized pieces, discarding the major bones.
2: on a grill or barbeque, grill the galangal, ginger, shallots,
jalapenas, garlic and lemond grass until slightly charred.
discard the skins, and chop, then pound to a paste in a mortar and
pestle or a food processor.
3:
Bring about 3 cups of water to a rolling boil, and add the ingredients,
after one minute lower the heat to a simmer, cover and simmer for about
20 minutes.
