Ingredients:
- 1 pa keng, scaled, gutted and washed - keep the intestine, if it is clean, and eggs, if any, wrap them together in pieces of banana leaf and grill them on the fire until cooked-take half only of the flesh of the fish, wash it and chop it finely - put the fish skin in the soup until it is just enough cooked, then take it out and chop it into small pieces
- 5 sweet young round eggplants - place them on a charcoal fire until their skins are burned, but do not let the seeds inside burn - then place them in a bowl
- 3 dried chilli peppers-grill them until soft
- 3 (small) heads of garlic-sear them on a charcoal fire
- 3 (small) shallots-sear them on a charcoal fire
- 2 slices of galingale
- Put the above five ingredients in a mortar and pound them all together finely
- 5 (more small) heads of garlic, chopped and fried until golden, then removed from the pan
- spring onions, chopped
- coriander, chopped
- 1 rice-bowl (1/2 pint) of "or padek" (cooked)
- 1 medium-sized bowl of nam keng (specifically the liquid part only of the fish soup frozen. Nam keng generally means ice) salt
Method:
- Put the chopped fish in the mortar with the five pounded ingredients and pound until thoroughly mixed.
- Add some "or padek" and salt.
- Then add some nam keng and continue stirring.
- Whether it is thick or not is according to your preference.
- Next, add the chopped fish skin, the chopped spring onions, and the fish intestine and eggs.
- Taste and check the saltiness. '
Dish up on to a platter and garnish with the fried garlic and chopped coriander.
Serve with Keng Som Houa Pa Keng (Sour soup made with the head of a pa keng) and some vegetables.
