Recipe of the month: Hansar Samui’s Poon Nim Pad Pong Karee

This month’s recipe comes from Chef Stephen Dion at Hansar Resort on Koh Samui and serves one person. Poon Nim Pad Pong Karee translates in English to Crispy Soft Crab on a Yellow Curry Sauce.

Main ingredients:

1 large soft shell crab

One-half medium-sized onion, sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 spring onions, cut in two-inch pieces

20g of Madras curry powder

25 ml of soya bean cooking oil

100 ml of coconut milk

25 ml of condensed milk

15 ml of fish sauce (to taste)

1 egg

Flour for dredging the soft shell

Ingredients for curry sauce: 

10g of Madras curry powder

3 g of red chilli powder (to taste)

10g of salt

100g of flour

Preparation:

Lay the soft shell crab on a tray. Dredge the the soft shell crab in the Flour mixture. Remove any excess flour .

Heat a large sauce pot enough to cover the softshell. Once the oil has 180 F, add the crab, occasionally turning it, so it cooks evenly. Then, deep fry until golden brown for three to five minutes.

Meanwhile, wok stir fry the sliced onions in the soya bean oil and add the garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent. Add a little chicken stock to prevent the onions from burning.

When the onions are ready, add in the curry powder, the coconut milk, the green onion pieces, and let simmer until desired consistency, then add the condensed milk, fish sauce and stir in one egg, stir frequently until the egg begins to cook. Remove the curry from the heat.

Set the curry sauce on a glass plate. Add the soft shell crab. Serve immediately, with steamed jasmine rice, and a small bowl of fish sauce with and a chopped Thai red and green chillies on the side.