Snake Head fish with mango salad สูตรปลาหัวงู

Even after a long day travelling around Surat Thani, I've always got the energy to come here to the night markets. It's incredible. The only place to find true southern food on the street, anytime. This is Kanom Bua. It's basically a very thin, crispy crepe with a soft, fluffy meringue in the centre. The lighter orange ones is a silken egg yolk and the darker orange is a salty coconut. They're so delicious. When you're in Thailand, in Surat Thani, grab these. Well it's time for me to hit the hay. I've found some fresh ingredients for tomorrow morning's amazing breakfast dish. Bla Lui Suan. This dish literally means fish munching in the garden because on this lovely fried snakehead fish, the salad on top is so full of herbs, aromatic, crunchy, it's incredible. The snakehead fish, we literally picked this up from the market this morning. It was alive. When they gutted it, they actually leave, in the south, they leave the gut in the fish. They do take out the black parts and the bitter parts, but the liver and everything else that's edible is left in. We simply just make some scores on the side to allow the oil to get into the fish. Now in western cooking, we quite often see fish dusted in flour before it's fried, but with this one here, it goes in straight without any flour. So we go straight into hot oil. The best way to test if the oil is ready is to take a chopstick and just place it in the centre of the oil. If you see those light bubbles fizzing up from the wood, it's ready to go. Make sure you put the fish in very gently, head first. The fish has cooked through, and then we just put it onto some paper toweling to absorb any excess oil. When you take the fish out of the oil, use two utensils, because it is quite a long fish, just to support the length of the fish so it doesn't break. We'll leave that to drain, turn off the gas, and then we can make the salad. This salad is fantastic, really easy to do. Some chilli jam, and just a small amount of the coconut sugar. Some fish sauce, about two tablespoons, and then stir it together. And then we add some sour mango. With the mango, simply peel it, grab the knife, and cut the mango into fine, fine shreds. Of course, be careful of your fingers when you do this. Once you've made lots and lots of cuts, just run the knife down, and the mango will shred off. Sawtooth coriander, two tablespoons, kaffir lime, finely shredded, half a tablespoon, some red shallot, finely sliced, about two tablespoons, and then lemongrass, finely sliced, one tablespoon, some baby spring onions, two tablespoons, a good pinch of chopped coriander, dried chilli, up to you. I would suggest at least one teaspoon, be adventurous and be daring. And if you like it hot, add two. Some fresh mint, and just break the mint gently, just to release the flavour, and then stir it all together. Really important, just taste the salad, and look at the balance of the sweetness, the sourness, and the saltiness. Now interestingly, in Thai food, we quite often add lime or lemon to add that sourness, but with this one, because the mangoes are so sour, you've already got it balanced perfectly. Yum, so delicious. I'm going to clear this up, so I can present my fish. Again, with the fish, just pick it up very delicately, and place it on the leaf. Grab the salad with some tongs, and place it all the way down the centre of the fish. I love this sort of food. It's so flavoursome, sitting down with a nice beer sing, in the sun, love it. Pla Lui Suan.