Southern Steamed Seafood Curry (Hor Mok Talay)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy granite mortar and pestle (krok hin)
• •Steamer with lid (bamboo or metal, large enough for 8 cups)
• •Toothpicks or small staples for banana leaf cups
• •Kitchen towel for wrapping steamer lid

Instructions

1. 1

   Pound the Southern kreung tam

   Start with the dried chilies, bird's eye chilies, white peppercorns, and a pinch of coarse salt in your granite mortar. Pound to a rough powder. The salt acts as an abrasive, it helps break down the fibrous chilies. Now add the lemongrass, galangal, and turmeric. Pound until the turmeric stains everything gold and the fibers break down completely. Your hands will be yellow. Your mortar will be yellow. Good. That's how you know you're cooking Southern. Next, the shallots, garlic, cilantro root, and kaffir lime zest, pounded in until the paste is wet and fragrant. Last, the kapi. Two tablespoons. Work it in with the pestle until the paste is smooth, cohesive, and smells like the ocean floor mixed with a spice market. This takes fifteen to twenty minutes. There is no shortcut.

   Ajarn always said: the kreung tam tells you when it's ready. When your arm burns and the paste is smooth enough that it holds together when you press it against the mortar wall, you're there. Anything gritty means you stopped too early.
2. 2

   Prepare the banana leaf cups

   Pass each banana leaf square briefly over an open flame or under hot running water. The leaf will darken slightly and become pliable. Don't burn it. Fold each square into a cup shape, about 3 inches across and 2 inches deep, and pin the corners with toothpicks or small staples. Place a few horapha leaves flat against the bottom of each cup. These aren't decoration. They perfume the custard from underneath as it steams.

3. 3

   Build the custard base

   In a large bowl, combine 300ml of the coconut cream with the pounded kreung tam. Stir until the paste dissolves completely into the cream. It should be a deep golden-orange color. Add the egg and beat it in. Then the fish sauce, palm sugar, and rice flour. The rice flour gives the custard structure so it sets properly without becoming rubbery. Stir until smooth. Taste the raw mixture. Yes, taste it. You need to know if the balance is right before it goes into the steamer. You're looking for salt from the nam pla, heat from the chilies, the earthy bitterness of turmeric, and just a whisper of sweetness. Southern hor mok leans savory and spicy. If it tastes sweet, you've added too much sugar.

   The egg is raw, so taste a small amount. This is standard practice for Thai cooks. You're checking seasoning, not eating a bowl of it. If the balance is off at this stage, no amount of steaming will fix it.
4. 4

   Fill the banana leaf cups

   Divide the sliced fish, shrimp, and squid evenly among the eight banana leaf cups, layering them on top of the basil leaves. Pour the coconut custard mixture over the seafood, filling each cup about three-quarters full. Don't overfill. The custard expands slightly as it sets. Spoon a tablespoon of the reserved coconut cream on top of each cup. This top layer stays white and creates the signature two-tone look: golden custard below, white coconut crown above.

5. 5

   Steam the hor mok

   Set your steamer over high heat and bring the water to a rolling boil before placing the cups inside. Reduce to medium heat once the cups are in. Steam for 20 to 25 minutes. The custard is done when it's firm to the touch but still has a slight jiggle in the center, like a set panna cotta. If you poke it with a toothpick, it should come out clean. Don't overcook. Oversteamed hor mok becomes grainy and porous with air bubbles. You want it silky and dense.

   Wrap the steamer lid with a kitchen towel to prevent condensation from dripping onto the custard surface. Water droplets will mar the smooth coconut cream topping.
6. 6

   Garnish and serve

   Remove the cups from the steamer. Top each one with the kaffir lime chiffonade, sliced red spur chilies, and a few fresh horapha leaves. The garnish is color and fragrance: the dark green of lime leaf, the red of chili, the bright green of basil against the golden-white custard. Serve with steamed jasmine rice. Eat by scooping the custard and seafood out of the banana leaf cup with a spoon. The banana leaf is the bowl, the plate, and part of the aroma. Don't transfer it to a dish. That defeats the purpose.

Chef Tips

• •The difference between Central and Southern hor mok lives in the mortar. Central Thai paste uses galangal as its primary rhizome. Southern paste leads with turmeric (kamin). This isn't a minor variation. Turmeric is earthier, more bitter, and stains everything it touches. It changes the color of the custard from pale orange to deep gold. If your hor mok isn't golden, you didn't use enough turmeric, or you're not making the Southern version.
• •Kapi (shrimp paste) quality matters enormously in this dish because there's nowhere for it to hide. Use a good Southern kapi from the Andaman coast if you can find it. It's darker, denser, and fishier than the Central Thai stuff. Smell it before you buy. Good kapi smells intensely of the sea, not like chemicals. If it smells sharp and acrid, it's industrial. Walk away.
• •The rice flour is structural, not filler. Without it, the custard can weep liquid and separate. Two tablespoons is enough to bind it without making it starchy. Some cooks use tapioca starch instead. Either works. The point is that the custard should hold its shape when you scoop it with a spoon, creamy and firm, not runny, not rubbery.
• •Mixed seafood (talay) is the traditional choice for Southern coastal hor mok. The fish provides body, the shrimp provides sweetness, the squid provides chew. Slice the fish thin so it cooks through evenly in the custard. Score the squid so it curls and tenderizes. If the shrimp are large, butterfly them so they lay flat.

Advance Preparation

• •The kreung tam can be pounded up to two days ahead and refrigerated in a sealed container. The turmeric stains everything, so use glass or stainless steel, not plastic.
• •Banana leaf cups can be assembled several hours ahead and kept at room temperature. Cover with a damp cloth so they don't dry out.
• •Do not mix the custard base until you're ready to steam. The egg needs to go from bowl to steamer without sitting around. And never mix the seafood into the custard early. The salt from the fish sauce will draw moisture from the seafood and thin the custard.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 275g)