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.