6.131
16 (Sat) May 2015
Gung Grapao
0.75
by me
in my apartment
-Ermita, Manila-
solo
A total bust, this first attempt at making kra phrao. The recipe from David Thompson’s cookbook Thai Street Food*. Though 2 tablespoons of fish sauce plus a “good pinch of salt” seemed excessive for a mere 4 tablespoons of water/stock and 200 grams of meat (the recipe calls for beef, but I substituted shrimp) — not to mention the 4 additional tablespoons of fish sauce for a separate dip, which I didn’t bother to make — I followed the recipe faithfully, as I tend to do with any dish that I’ve never done before. As anticipated, it turned out mouth-puckeringly salty, and fishy. After draining away as much of the sauce as possible, I barely managed to eat the solid components
*Purchased on a recent trip to Thailand, selected because of the photos and historical explanations of dishes; TLC Asia features a cooking program of the same name hosted by the same guy**.
**I should’ve been skeptical because the guy opens the show saying : “Thailand … it’s all about the food”***.
***One of my pet peeves****, someone telling me what something is all about. Invariably, the phrase is never used when the something is actually all about that particular thing, like : “Orange juice … it’s all about the oranges.” Instead, the phrase is used only when it’s partly about the thing, like : “Wine … it’s all about the grapes.”
****I also hate someone telling me what they’re talking about, as in : “That’s what I’m talking about!”
I think it’s Thompson, not Thomson. Also, the saltiness of fish sauce can vary quite a bit depending on brand/source…a lot of people say the American brands are “watered down.” Don’t know myself, don’t cook with it…also, I personally am more tolerant of salty meat compared to salty seafood. But yeah, that sounds pretty salty.
thanks for the typo catch.
even if fish sauce does have differing degrees of saltiness, this guy purports to be “all about” authenticity, and I used Thai fish sauce for this recipe.