A whole fish, deep-fried until the skin is crisp and the flesh just cooked, served with a sauce of tamarind, fish sauce, palm sugar, fresh chillies, garlic, and shallots — slightly thickened, poured over the fried fish at service, with fresh coriander. Pla rad prik is a preparation of dramatic textural contrast: the crisp, lacy skin of a correctly deep-fried whole fish against the yielding interior flesh, under the sweet-sour-hot sauce with fresh herbs. The preparation requires both a correctly deep-fried fish and a correctly balanced sauce — neither element can compensate for deficiency in the other.
**Scoring and drying the fish:** - Score the fish deeply on both sides — 4–5 cuts on each side, down to the bone, at 45° to the spine. - Pat the exterior dry with paper — any surface moisture prevents the skin from crisping and produces violent oil splatter. - Season the cavity with fish sauce and a piece of lemongrass. - For maximum skin crispness: dust the exterior with rice flour or tapioca flour immediately before frying. The flour provides a thin, crisp coating that keeps the skin texture even. **Deep-frying a whole fish:** - Oil: 4–5cm depth in a wok, at 175–180°C. - Slide the fish in carefully — into a wok that is deep enough to submerge the fish, using a wok large enough to accommodate the full fish length. - Fry for 8–12 minutes depending on the fish's thickness — a 500g fish, 10 minutes. - The fish should be turned once — gently, using two spatulas — at the 5-minute mark. - Correct endpoint: deeply golden, almost brown skin that sounds hollow when tapped with a finger (the moisture inside has evaporated and the skin structure has set). **The sauce:** 1. Fry shallots and garlic in oil until golden. 2. Add fresh chillies — sliced. 3. Add tamarind water, fish sauce, and palm sugar. 4. Simmer 3 minutes until slightly thickened. 5. Taste and adjust four-flavour balance (Entry TH-02). 6. The sauce should be thick enough to cling to the fish surface when poured. Decisive moment: The skin's final texture before the fish is removed from the oil. Press the skin surface with a spatula — at the correct endpoint it should sound hollow and feel crisp rather than yielding. A skin that still has give: needs 2 more minutes. A skin that sounds hollow and crisps slightly under pressure: done. Sensory tests: **Sound — the hollow tap:** At the correct endpoint: a knuckle or spatula tapped on the fried fish skin produces a slightly hollow, dry sound — like tapping a drum. Under-cooked: a soft, moist thud. **Sight:** Deep amber-gold to light brown — evenly coloured from head to tail. The flour coating darkens uniformly. **The sauce-over-fish service:** The hot sauce poured over the crisp fish skin immediately before service: the moisture and heat of the sauce begins to soften the skin within minutes. Serve within 2 minutes of saucing.
David Thompson, *Thai Food* (2002); *Thai Street Food* (2010)