Hor Mok Pla Salmon
Bored of eating plain steamed fish all the time, I decided to literally spice things up by turning a cutlet of salmon into Hor Mok Pla, a Thai steamed fish custard, very similar to otak otak.
I ground up some coriander root, Kaffir lime leaves, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, turmeric and a little curry powder. Then I added some of the salmon and ground it some more. I didn't have coconut milk, so I used soy milk, which was ok, but lacking in coconut.
The result was a smooth fish custard, but I soon realised that I left out the fish sauce and didn't add sugar, but it was still good!
Surprisingly, the salmon was tasty enough to stand up to all those spices, but perhaps a stronger tasting fish like snapper would have been better.
Next time, maybe I'd add some kangkong or shredded cabbage as well.
References:
- Hor Mok Pla ห่อหมกปลา - Steamed Curry Fish Custard - www.allthaifood.com/ Recipe from: Colonel Ian F. Khuntilanont-Philpott
- Hor Mok Pla - Thai Sea Food Blog, Wednesday, July 12, 2006