A Dish of Pounded Catfish

Name: A Dish of Pounded Catfish (Pon Pa Leum)
Cuisine: Luang prabang
Ingredients: 3 fresh chilli peppers, these four ingredients to be cooked in the embers of a charcoal fire, then peeled and pounded together to constitute the Kheuang hom; 4 (small) shallots, these four ingredients to be cooked in the embers of a charcoal fire, then peeled and pounded together to constitute the Kheuang hom; 2 (small) heads of garlic, these four ingredients to be cooked in the embers of a charcoal fire, then peeled and pounded together to constitute the Kheuang hom; 1 piece of pa leum (a large catfish), free of bones, the size of a hand—wash it, slice it thinly, put it in a pot with water barely covering it, sprinkle it with salt and fish sauce (it should be quite salty), boil it until cooked, then take the pot from the fire; 6 sweet young round eggplants, these four ingredients to be cooked in the embers of a charcoal fire, then peeled and pounded together to constitute the Kheuang hom; 1 straight-bulbed spring onion—chop both the bulb and the leaves finely; 1 sprig of coriander, chopped; 2 Kaffir lime leaves, chopped; salt and fish sauce

Pon Pa Leum

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Traditional Recipes of Laos

By Phia Sing

Published 1981

About

Ingredients

1 piece of pa leum (a large catfish), free of bones, the size of a hand—wash it, slice it thinly, put it in a pot with water barely covering it, sprinkle it with salt and fish sauce (it should be quite salty), boil it until cooked, t

Asia
Laos
Side dish
Fish course
Pescatarian
Southeast Asia
Spicy
Gluten-free

Method

Combine the boiled fish with the Kheuang hom in a mortar and pound together finely. Then add the water in which the fish was cooked and stir until the mixture is thick (i.e. like a thick soup). Add the spring onion and chopped Kaffir lime leaves. Do not let the mixture become either too thick or too runny. Taste, and check the saltiness.

Arrange the mixture on a