Thai fried fish – sea bass fillet with lemongrass sauce for fish made from a curry paste pounded in a mortar and pestle before being pan fried. Finger licking good. Gluten Free and Dairy Free too.
Today I write this post from the beach. I’m sitting in a beach side cafe on Otres Beach in Cambodia and with a beer in hand and the ocean breeze coming in, I’m on my computer.
This is what I see when I think of location independent living. The fresh air and beach as the office environment. I can’t complain.
And the fact that we’ve found a Greek owned cafe with a few killer Greek dishes and sauces just makes things even better.
Last night for dinner we had freshly grilled snapper with a simple sauce. Perfection.
When you’re close to the water seafood and fish is the way to go. And so if you’ve got a supply of freshly caught fish in the area I urge you to make this deep fried fish dish.
I learned how to make this lemongrass sauce for Thai fried fish during a cooking class at the Blue Elephant in Bangkok and the sauce will truly knock your socks off. Now that summer is just around the corner fish makes for the perfect entree and this dish will not disappoint.
I had never cooked with sea bass fillet before, always opting instead for a whole Mediterranean sea bass to make my classic steamed branzini recipe, but in this case we were going to deep fry the fish. That’s not the star of this recipe though.
What really shines through is the sauce. The lemongrass sauce for this Thai fried fish is made from scratch with a curry paste first pounded in a mortar and pestle and then being pan fried with broth and other sauces to make the glaze for the fish.
The result is finger licking good. There’s nothing better than pounding your own curry pastes. The smell in the air is simply intoxicating. It might be a bit intimidating at first but don’t worry it’s worth every minute of effort for a tantalizing lemongrass sauce for Thai fried fish.
Thai fried fish - A sea bass fillet is deep fried and topped with a lemongrass based sauce made from a curry paste pounded in a mortar and pestle before being pan fired with broth and sauce. Finger licking good. Gluten Free and Dairy Free too.
- For the fish:
- 1 piece sea bass fillet 8 ounces
- 2 tablespoon flour cornstarch for gluten free version
- 1 teaspoon salt
- vegetable oil for deep frying
- For the paste:
- 1 inch piece of lemongrass finely sliced
- 1/2 tablespoon ginger finely sliced
- 2 pieces coriander root omit if can't find
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper powder substitute black pepper powder
- 3 pieces red bird's eye chilies
- 2 cloves garlic
- For the stir fry:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 piece red chili sliced
- 2 green onions sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger sliced
- Seasoning:
- 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon palm sugar
- 1 tablespoon bean paste can be found in Asian stores
- 1 tablespoon tamarind juice
- 6 tablespoons chicken stock
- Garnish:
- 1 tablespoon lemongrass finely diced and deep fried (optional)
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Coat fish with flour and salt and deep fry until cooked through and crispy (or cook on the grill).
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In a mortar pound garlic, coriander root, and white pepper powder. Then add 1/2 the bird's eye chili, 1/2 the ginger and the lemongrass. Set aside.
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In a saucepan on medium heat add oil then paste, adding a little bit of stock to keep the paste from burning. Then add fish sauce, bean paste, tamarind juice,and remaining stock.
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Add remaining ginger, red chili and spring onion. Mix well. Remove from heat. Top fish with sauce and garnish with deep fried lemongrass.
Recipe from Blue Elephant Cooking Schoolย
Jerry | Simply Good Eating says
Wow this deep fried fish looks amazing especially with the lemongrass sauce on top.
Vicky says
Thanks! The lemongrass sauce really was so good. I imagine it would go well with chicken or even tofu as well!
Mary says
How absolutely delicious it is! Love this.