Gaeng Leuang — Southern Yellow Turmeric Curry / แกงเหลือง

Ingredients

• For the paste
• 80 g fresh turmeric (kamin sot), peeled, roughly chopped
• 4–6 dried red chillies, soaked in warm water, drained
• 2 stalks lemongrass, tough outer leaves removed, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp kapi (shrimp paste), roasted
• 20 g fresh galangal, peeled, thinly sliced
• For the broth
• 800 ml water
• 150 ml tamarind water, from a generous amount of tamarind pulp — the broth must be assertively sour
• 2–3 tbsp fish sauce, to season; no palm sugar
• For the fish and vegetables
• 400 g short mackerel (pla thu) or kingfish, cleaned, cut into serving pieces
• 300 g green papaya, peeled, cut into 2 cm cubes
• 200 g bamboo shoots or yard-long beans, cut into bite-sized pieces

Method

1. 1
   Pound the paste ingredients — fresh turmeric, soaked dried chillies, lemongrass, galangal, and kapi — in a mortar, working from the hardest to the softest, so the fibrous materials break down before the wet ones are introduced and the whole mass grinds evenly rather than slipping. Continue until no visible fibrous strands remain and the turmeric has stained the paste a vivid orange-gold. The paste is ready when it holds together and pulls cleanly away from the sides of the mortar.
2. 2
   Bring the water to a strong simmer in a medium pot, then add the paste and stir to disperse it completely, so the flavour compounds bleed freely into the broth rather than sitting in dense pockets. Let the broth cook for 3–4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the raw, almost medicinal smell of the turmeric gives way to a rounded, herbal fragrance. No clumps should remain suspended in the liquid.
3. 3
   Add the tamarind water generously, stir, taste, and push the sourness further than instinct suggests is correct, because the fish, papaya, and rice will each draw acidity away from the broth once the dish is assembled. This is where the dish lives or dies: an under-soured gaeng leuang is flat and without identity. Season with fish sauce only — no palm sugar, no coconut milk.
4. 4
   Add the green papaya cubes (or bamboo shoots, or yard-long beans) to the simmering broth and cook for 4–5 minutes, keeping the heat steady so the vegetables cook through without the outside softening faster than the centre. They must retain firm, discernible texture — yielding to the bite but not collapsing. Test a cube of papaya by pressing it between your fingers; it should resist slightly before giving.
5. 5
   Add the fish pieces and cook until the flesh is just opaque through to the bone, approximately 4–5 minutes depending on thickness, moving the pieces gently rather than stirring aggressively so they hold their form and release their juices into the broth rather than breaking apart in it. The broth will have deepened to a clear, bright orange-gold by this point. If the colour has turned muddy or dull, the heat has been too high for too long.
6. 6
   Taste the finished broth once more and correct with fish sauce or tamarind water as required. Serve immediately in deep bowls with plain jasmine rice; the broth is part of the dish, not a backdrop to it.