Laotian Pounded Catfish Dish Recipe

Serves/Makes: 4 – 6

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 catfish (pa leum) fillets, boneless
• 4 small shallots
• 6 sweet young round eggplants
• 3 fresh chilli peppers
• 2 small heads garlic
• 2 Kaffir lime leaves, chopped
• 1 sprig coriander, chopped
• 1 spring onion, finely chopped
• Fish sauce to taste
• Salt to taste

How to cook Laotian Pounded Catfish Dish:

• Wash the catfish (pa leum) fillets and slice thinly.
• Put in a pot and add water, just enough to barely cover the fish.
• Sprinkle salt and fish sauce and boil until the fish is cooked through. Take the pot from the fire.
• Cook shallots, eggplants, fresh chilli peppers, and garlic heads in the embers of a charcoal fire. Peel and pounded together and the result is called kheuang hom.
• Combine the boiled fish with the kheuang hom in a mortar and pound together finely.
• Add the broth in which the fish was cooked and stir-fry until the mixture is thick.
• Add the chopped spring onion and chopped Kaffir lime leaves. Do not let the mixture become either too thick or too runny. Taste, and check the saltiness, it should be quite salty.
• Arrange the mixture on a platter, garnish it with the chopped coriander and serve it with a sour soup (Keng Som), young cucumbers and other vegetables, which are suitable accompaniments.

Note:
The Laotian name for Pounded Catfish Dish is Pon Pa Leum.

This recipe for Laotian Pounded Catfish Dish serves/makes: 4 – 6

Main Ingredient: Catfish
Preparation Method: Pan Fried/Sauteed
Cuisine: Other Asian