Cooking in
Western Australia
Thai
Gaeng Liang — Herb-Forward Vegetable Curry / แกงเลียง
Gaeng liang is the oldest Thai curry style — predating the arrival of chillies from the Americas, relying on white pepper for heat and dried shrimp paste for depth. It is a clear, fragrant broth cooked with seasonal vegetables: young marrow, baby corn, pea eggplant, and an abundance of fresh Thai basil or sweet basil added at the end. The paste is simple (dried shrimp, white pepper, shallots, kapi) and brief; the broth is water or a light pork stock; the cooking is fast. This is considered a healthy, restorative dish in Thai culinary tradition — its simplicity is intentional, its flavour is clean, and it is one of the few Thai dishes where the vegetable character is primary.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the paste
40 g
dried shrimp
palest, most fragrant available — should smell of the sea, not of fermentation
Origin · Vietnam
1 tsp
white peppercorns
whole, then ground
Your own market
60 g
shallots
peeled and roughly chopped
Your own market
1 tsp
kapi (shrimp paste)
For the broth and vegetables
1 litre
water or light pork stock
not a rich or reduced stock
200 g
young marrow (or zucchini)
cut into 2 cm pieces
Your own market
150 g
baby corn
halved lengthways
Origin · Mexico
100 g
pea eggplant
stems removed
Your own market
30 g
fresh Thai basil or sweet basil
leaves only, added at the last moment
Origin · New Zealand
To season
1 tbsp
fish sauce
or to taste — season lightly
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Pound the dried shrimp, white peppercorns, shallots, and kapi together in a mortar until a coarse, cohesive paste forms, working them together thoroughly so the shrimp and shallots fully surrender their moisture and the paste binds rather than crumbles — a paste that holds together will dissolve evenly into the broth where a loose, uneven one will not. The dried shrimp should be fully broken down and the shallots should no longer be distinct. The paste should hold together and smell sharp, saline, and faintly aromatic.
2
Bring the water or light pork stock to a simmer in a medium pot over moderate heat, then add the paste and stir to dissolve it into the broth, cooking it just long enough to lose its raw, uncooked edge — this is where the dish lives or dies, because a paste pushed too long or over too fierce a heat will drive out the delicate herb character that defines gaeng liang, burying it beneath an aggressive, shrimpy base. The broth should smell clean and lightly saline. Pull back the moment it smells open and fragrant rather than sharp and raw.
3
Add the young marrow and baby corn, simmering over moderate heat so the vegetables cook gently and hold their shape rather than turning waterlogged and slack. Simmer until the marrow yields slightly at its edge when pressed with a spoon — dense enough to hold its shape, tender enough to offer no resistance at the core. This takes only a few minutes; do not allow the broth to boil hard.
4
Add the pea eggplant and continue to simmer until the skins have softened from taut to slightly yielding, keeping the heat moderate so the small, bitter spheres cook through without splitting and clouding the broth. Season with fish sauce at this point — the broth should taste lightly seasoned, present but not forward.
From the canon — Fish sauce — nam pla — is the universal salt of the Thai kitchen. Fish Sauce (Nam Pla): Selection and Use →
5
Remove from heat or reduce to the lowest possible flame, then add the basil leaves and allow them to wilt for 10 to 15 seconds — no longer — so the leaves release their fragrance into the hot broth without cooking past the point where their colour fades and their perfume turns flat. The leaves should have softened and retained their green colour and visible structure. Serve immediately.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Dried shrimp sourced from a trusted Thai or Vietnamese supplier — pale gold, fragrant, smelling of the sea rather than of fermentation; freshly harvested pea eggplant from a specialist grower; stock made from a light, bones-only pork broth the same day.
02
Estate — Good-quality packaged dried shrimp with a pale colour and clean aroma; pea eggplant and Thai basil from an Asian greengrocer; filtered water as the base, which yields a cleaner result than tap water in hard-water areas.
03
Market — Supermarket dried shrimp — check that the colour is not dark and the smell is not ammonia-forward; seasonal courgette or marrow in place of young marrow; sweet basil where Thai basil is unavailable. The dish remains honest at this level if the dried shrimp is acceptable.
04
House — Any pale, odour-neutral dried shrimp; a light chicken stock in place of pork stock; Italian basil added with the same restraint — the herb character shifts but the structural discipline of the recipe still produces a clean broth.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Smell. The dissolved paste broth smells clean, lightly saline, and faintly aromatic — not aggressively shrimpy or fermented.
◇Touch. The young marrow yields at its edge when pressed with the back of a spoon but holds its shape; it should not collapse.
◇Sight. The basil leaves have wilted and softened but retain their green colour and visible leaf structure — they have not darkened or become translucent.
◇Taste. The finished broth is lightly seasoned — present, faintly saline, herb-forward — not aggressively salty or paste-dominant.
◇Where it lives or dies. The paste must dissolve briefly into the broth without over-developing — if it fries too long, it dominates the herbs and the dish's defining clean, vegetable-forward character is lost.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Sake
From Western Australia
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The whole pairingPillar VII
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The working kitchen