Name: Gaeng Som Talay (Savoury Seafood Soup)
Yield: Serves 4–6
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 5 cloves garlic, peeled; 2.5-cm piece dried prawn paste (gapi), roasted and crumbled; 6 shallots, peeled; 8 dried chillies, seeded, soaked in hot water to soften, then cut into short lengths; 6 cups (1.5 litres) water; 140 g tamarind pulp; 110 g squid, cleaned and cut into rings; ⅜ cup (90 ml) fish sauce (nam pla); 280 g prawns, peeled and deveined; 110 g cauliflower, cut into florets; 1 catfish, about 280 g, deboned and cut into bite-size pieces; 55 g carrot, peeled and cut into 0.5-cm thick slices; 110 g pickled mustard, cut into 1.5-cm pieces; 1 spring onion, finely chopped; 2 tablespoons chopped palm sugar or brown sugar; 110 g long beans, cut into 2.5-cm lengths; 110 g turnip, peeled and cut into 0.5-cm thick slices

Preparation info

Serves
4–6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Little Thai Cookbook

By Marshall Cavendish

Published 2014

About

Gaeng som refers to sour soups and curries that feature prominently in southern Thai cuisine. The soup’s sour note comes from tamarind, an acidic sweet-sourish fruit, and its overall flavour tickles your taste buds with an explosion of all imaginable combinations of sour, sweet, spicy and savoury, and usually features fish or seafood. Authentic southern Thai cuisine can be found near Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, across the street from Ramkanhaeng University. Although turmeric is usua