A whole fish deep-fried until shatteringly crisp, then bathed in a sticky three-flavor sauce of chili, garlic, tamarind, palm sugar and fish sauce. The contrast of crunchy skin against the sweet-sour-spicy glaze makes it a centerpiece dish for Thai family feasts.
Pla rad prik is the Thai whole fish — fried crisp, then bathed in a sweet, sour and fiery tamarind-chili sauce. Served head-to-tail in homes and restaurants nationwide, it is a centrepiece made for sharing over rice.
You crack through glassy, blistered skin into steamy white flesh, then the sauce hits: sweet tamarind, salty fish sauce and a slow chili burn all at once. Sticky, glossy and loud, it's a dish that demands a mound of plain rice to tame it.
Thorough drying and scoring let the skin dehydrate and crisp in hot oil rather than steam, so it stays crunchy under the sauce. Tamarind's acid, palm sugar and fish sauce form the balanced sweet-sour-salty base of Thai three-flavor sauces.
Variations
Sea bass, snapper or tilapia, fillet versions for ease, pineapple in the sauce, extra-spicy southern style
On the Palate
Where Pla Rad Prik sits in the Thai flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 20 min
- 15 min
Score a cleaned whole fish on both sides and pat thoroughly dry.
Watch outPat the fish bone-dry before frying — any surface water makes the oil spit and steams the skin instead of crisping it.
- 210 min
Deep-fry in hot oil until golden and crisp all over, then drain.
Watch outFry until the skin is stiff and deep gold and the bubbling quiets down — that's the sound of the surface being dry and crisp.
- 34 min
Pound garlic, fresh and dried chilies into a coarse paste.
- 43 min
Soak tamarind pulp in warm water and strain for the juice.
- 53 min
Fry the chili paste in a little oil until fragrant and deepened.
Watch outFry the chili paste low and slow until it smells sweet and the raw edge is gone — stop before it scorches or the sauce turns bitter.
- 65 min
Add tamarind juice, palm sugar and fish sauce; simmer to a sticky sauce.
Watch outSimmer until it coats a spoon, then taste for the three-way balance — sour, sweet and salty should all land, none winning.
- 71 min
Pour the hot sauce over the fried fish to coat.
- 82 min
Garnish with fried shallots and cilantro; serve with rice.
